Industry, Experts, or Industry Experts? Academic Sourcing in News Coverage of AI

Analysing the news mentions of the 150 most cited scholars researching artificial intelligence in the UK and US, this factsheet offers three main findings. First, news mentions are concentrated on a small number of high-profile scholars. Second, scholars with industry affiliations are far more likely to be mentioned in news and to attract more news attention. Third, many of the scholars who feature most frequently in the news are men. Interviews with AI researchers and UK-based technology journalists reveal the influence of industry public relations efforts. Interviews also demonstrate that as journalists face pressure to produce popular stories on tight deadlines, they have an incentive to rely on industry sources who can offer ready-made stories and timely insight. However, increasing the diversity of sources and story subjects could help provide broader, richer, and potentially more critical insight into the many pressing public problems and opportunities surrounding artificial intelligence