ASYMMETRIC AUTOMATION: INSTITUTIONAL DIVERGENCE IN AI ADOPTION ACROSS PAKISTANI AND POLISH NEWSROOMS
Keywords:
Algorithmic Dependency, Central Europe, Comparative Media Systems, Institutional Logics, Journalistic Autonomy, Newsroom Transformation, South AsiaAbstract
Across media systems with varying resources, the challenges of integrating AI into newsroom processes and decision-making are not the same, as this study calls it asymmetric automation. This study explores how institutional environment creates contrasting adoption patterns of GenAI in Pakistani and European newsrooms, addressing the lack of comparative studies in this field. The findings are organised thematically, and then cross-cased. The outcomes are revealing of significant disparities. In the context of newsrooms, AI integration is formalized, regulated, and has dedicated roles in Polish newsrooms, with newsroom unions providing ethical guidelines. Pakistani newsrooms have informal and unregulated adoption practices, due to economic instability, poor infrastructure, and absence of regulations. In Pakistan, the internal shift of editorial power is faster because there are no institutional checks and balances. An algorithmic dependency gap arises: The usage of local contexts by Pakistani journalists is dependent on Western trained LLMs, which do not provide an alternative; and epistemic dependency is created. Workflow changes follow suit—AI as production accelerant in Pakistan, as cognitive assistant in Poland. The study further enriches institutional theory by showing how the strength of professional norms and governance density affect the reconfiguration of authority in the context of AI-mediated journalism. Findings have implications for journalism policy, with regulatory development needing to be tailored to the journalism sector, the strengthening of the infrastructure of newsrooms in the Global South precluding responsible adoption of AI and strengthening of journalistic agency through collective bargaining and AI literacy programmes.
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