Inteligência artificial e jornalismo regional: um estudo com veículos nativos digitais de Juazeiro do Norte

Abstract

This study analyzes how journalists working for digital-native news outlets in Juazeiro do Norte, located in the Cariri region of Ceará, perceive and incorporate Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) into their professional routines, considering ethical, territorial, and professional dimensions. The objective is to understand how the adoption of this technology challenges historical principles of local journalism, such as fact-checking, transparency, editorial responsibility, and human mediation. Methodologically, the research adopts a qualitative approach, based on semi-structured interviews conducted with seven professionals from three digital-native news organizations in the municipality: Miséria, No Cariri Tem, and Badalo. The findings indicate that GAI is used in an instrumental and cautious manner, primarily for operational tasks such as information organization, text revision, and transcription. Resistance was observed regarding the delegation of authorship-related functions or creative decision-making to technology, as well as concerns about phenomena such as algorithmic hallucinations, misinformation, and deepfakes. The study also found a consensus among participants regarding journalists’ ultimate responsibility for published content and the importance of transparency in the use of these tools. In the regional context, territory emerges as a form of symbolic capital and a professional differentiator, perceived as a dimension that cannot be replaced by automation. The study concludes that the incorporation of GAI into local journalism occurs through continuous negotiations between technological innovation and the historically established values of the profession.