Lisbon, June 24, 2026 (Lusa) - Google’s head of partnerships for Southern Europe said, in an interview with Lusa, that AI could represent a very interesting opportunity for the media and that the role of journalists is set to evolve.
“AI [artificial intelligence] could present a very interesting opportunity for the media, for traditional media and for the industry,” Riccardo Terzi, Google’s head of partnerships for Southern Europe, said, admitting that “many things still need to be adapted to the new model”.
The discussions Google has been having with media leaders, he added, “relate, for example, to the control of AI and remuneration rights”, thereby opening up “a new arena for dialogue and discussion”.
Riccardo Terzi emphasised that he is the first to say that “there is still a lot to be done” and that everyone is at a “completely experimental” stage.
Paradoxically, “even though we are all currently discussing fluctuations in traffic and the changing paradigm, specifically in journalism, I believe that AI is an excellent tool for enabling journalists to devote more time, in my view, to what will be even more relevant in the future”.
In other words, “the ability to critically analyse the facts, the ability to be human and relevant, and the ability to forge an ethical bond with their readers – something that an algorithm and a machine will never be able to do”, he said.
In this regard, he believes that “the opportunity lies in using this technology for the right purpose in the production of information” and “positioning journalism correctly in the face of many phenomena, especially amongst the young Generation Z audience, who say they are interested in delving deeper into the information”.
“I think that, if you put all this together, yes, I have a positive view of how this will develop” in the media sector.
Terzi is completely opposed to the speculative theory that AI will replace journalism.
“I completely disagree. I’m in favour of human involvement (‘human-in-the-loop’), as we often say in the world of technology, and I’m in favour of AI tools and technology giving humans, and in this case journalists, superpowers to act as even greater ‘watchdogs’ than before,” he continues.
The younger generation “feels less of a connection to traditional media brands, but perhaps feels too closely linked to individual journalists”, he noted, pointing out that “it is as if journalists are becoming brands in their own right”.
For example, “I’m talking about the phenomenon of content creators”, “who are very much at home with different formats – multimodal formats, audio and video”.
In this regard, he acknowledged that journalists will probably need to evolve “from text to entirely new formats, starting with video”.
And, most likely, “they may start to consider how to build their own community with people, how to use their tone of voice, how to conduct investigations, and how to assess life and the facts”, he added.
Overall, “I see the role of the journalist evolving like any other professional role, but by no means being replaced by technology,” he concluded.
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