Ethical Limits of AI Use in the Media Sector

The present and future of the media industry are intensively influenced by groundbreaking developments in the field of automation and artificial intelligence (AI). The debates from science and practice largely trade off the opportunities and risks against each other. Regardless of this, one thing is certain: the AI innovation cycle has only just begun. As a “mediating authority,” media ethics organizes and structures the various ideas, balances between philosophy and the reality of life in general and thus provides orientation, boundaries, and recommendations. This chapter takes up the idea of ethics as a “mediating authority” and asks specifically about the ethical limits of AI use in the media sector. What does the current state of research and practice say about the ethical limits of AI use in the media industry? And: Where is there (nevertheless) a need for action, and how can the future of media products and productions be shaped in the medium term on the basis of ethical dimensions? Based on studies and documents from media policy, media-related institutions, and media companies, a broader picture of current efforts and media ethical boundaries emerges. Three central dimensions of ethical boundaries become particularly clear in the media companies: human and machine control, safeguarding quality standards, and free opinion-forming as well as limits in the function and use of “social scoring.” These are not the only examples: AI provides completely changed possibilities for obtaining and disseminating information. This gives rise to new tasks and questions for media ethics in an AI-influenced media world.