Newsrooms can moderate and calibrate, algorithms chase engagement: Kalli Purie on AI

Key points

• At a time when artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping several sectors, including journalism, a key question that industry leaders are grappling with is how to harness the benefits of AI without undermining human creativity.
• The issue was at the heart of the discussion at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2026, with experts, including India Today Group Vice-Chairperson and Executive Editor-in-Chief Kalli Purie, outlining how a balance between AI and human intervention is the need of the hour.
• Speaking at the session 'The Limits of AI in the Media', Purie underscored the need for ethical safeguards, fact-checking and human judgment.
• The key distinction, Purie said, was that newsrooms apply moderation and calibration, while algorithms do not.
• Meanwhile, Purie's fellow panellist Maria Zakharova, director of the press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, underscored that AI should remain a tool that supports human abilities rather than replacing...