2026 - Spring

Elective Reporting Topics: Artificial Intelligence, Data, and Investigative Journalism

Course Number: JOUR-UA 204.005

Day & Time: Mon | 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Location: 20 Cooper Square, Room 653

Prerequisites: None

Journalists were totally unprepared for the advent of generative AI and we’re not the only ones. The entire ecosystem of people who make a living by putting their creative and intellectual work in front of audiences are struggling with what AI will mean to their future. Whether you’re an influencer on TikTok or an artist trying to sell your work at Dragon Con or a musician trying to get your work noticed on Spotify, you’re already fighting against a rising tide of AI slop and artificially-created works that are drowning out human creativity.

Your survival as a journalist depends on understanding what AI is, how it works, and what it can and can’t do. Just as importantly, you need to know how to do things that AI can’t do — to create works of journalism that are not going to be swamped by an increasing tide of AI clickbait. In this course, we will examine the rise of AI, analyze how AI functions, and understand the threat. More than that, we’ll learn mechanisms whereby we can make ourselves less vulnerable to the AI threat.

Not only will we spend time learning how to use techniques to do journalism that AI can simply not do. We’ll learn about investigative techniques that we can use to see through lies — to shed light on facts that certain people would rather keep hidden. We’ll learn how to find data and use it to reveal truths that have not yet been uncovered. And we will learn ways in which we can use artificial intelligence as a tool in our own journalism. For, used wisely, AI can be a powerful assistant that can transform your reporting.

Notes: Counts as an elective for the journalism major and both journalism minors.

Questions? Email undergraduate.journalism@nyu.edu.