The launch of Pakistan Today English News, billed as the world’s first fully AI-powered English-language channel, has ignited debate in Pakistan’s already embattled media industry. Is this a bold step toward efficiency and global reach or a shortcut that sidelines human journalists in favour of avatars and algorithms?
The split is clear. Owners and conglomerates see a financial opportunity. Credible journalists fear long term ethical deterioration.
Why Owners Love AI
Running a newsroom is expensive. Reporters, anchors, editors, and fact-checkers all cost money in an industry already hit hard by shrinking advertising revenues and declining readership. AI, by contrast, promises round-the-clock production at a fraction of the cost. It does not demand salaries, healthcare, or union protections. For conglomerates, replacing even part of their workforce with AI-driven systems means a leaner operation and potentially higher profits.
This explains why flashy announcements such as 92 News’s Urdu AI anchor or Express News’s U.S. election AI reporter keep surfacing. Even if short-lived, these gimmicks signal to investors and advertisers that the channel is “innovating” and cutting costs. A savvy intern capable of writing AI prompts may be easier to work with than a grizzled journalists with years of reporting experience. Lower salaries with higher output also means assembly style content. This inversion of expertise certainly saves costs, but it strips journalism of the very skills that protect against misinformation and manipulation.
Assembly-line Newsrooms
Journalists stress that fact-checking, accountability, and contextual reporting remain human skills. AI can scrape data, synthesise summaries, and mimic speech patterns, but it cannot interrogate a source or weigh the implications of a political story in a fragile democracy.
What place do deep dives have in an attention economy built for bite-sized video? As Substacks rise and mainstream reports mimic TikTok, depth risks losing ground to speed and spectacle.
In a country ranked 158 out of 180 in Reporters Without Borders’ 2025 Press Freedom Index, where misinformation and censorship already corrode public trust, this could be catastrophic. Clickbait news has already killed off longform print but AI unnerves even the most discriminating news-buffs, how can they tell what is real reportage?
The Collapse of Digital Revenue
This division is not unique to Pakistan, but it is especially sharp here because of collapsing media economics. Google’s search algorithm now privileges AI-generated summaries over links to original reporting, draining traffic and revenue from websites. Owners see AI as a survival tool. Journalists see it as a threat to their livelihoods and to the integrity of news itself.
Projects like Sahafat.AI, led by Media Matters for Democracy might offer a middle path. With Samaa Digital as its pilot partner, the initiative aims to integrate AI responsibly into workflows while training reporters to use tools for translation, verification, and research. The emphasis is on augmentation, not substitution.
A Fragile Balance
Can still serve as a watchdog if black-box systems replace human responsibility? No one is replacing all journalists today, yet every substitution that sidelines human expertise reduces journalism’s ability to scrutinise power. Watchdog reporting depends on accountability, sourcing, and editorial oversight that can be scrutinised.
Pakistan’s press freedom is already fragile, which leaves little room for error.
