Prompt, Praise and Precision: AI Tips for Modern Journalism

Artificial intelligence also needs to be “oiled,” and it never gets angry—it only apologises. Therefore, when writing prompts, journalists should use praise and clearly define the role, task, audience, context and background to get the best support from AI tools. For faster news writing and source verification, the use of Notebook LLM was also recommended.

These insights were shared by Saiful Alam, Associate Professor at the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism, University of Dhaka, during the first session of the final day of a two-day workshop on the challenges and prospects of AI use in journalism. The workshop concluded on Saturday, December 27, at the Shafiqul Kabir Auditorium of the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) in Segunbagicha, organised by Gameplify.

During the session, Saiful Alam highlighted various digital reporting tools, social media strategies, storytelling techniques and the use of Google Trends. He advised journalists to explore tools such as DeepSeek, Midjourney, Ideogram, Gemini, Heatmap, and Datawrapper for different journalistic needs.

He noted that Bangladesh’s Gemini AI often becomes overloaded in the evening and advised journalists not to rely solely on ChatGPT during that time. Instead, he encouraged the use of alternative tools based on the nature of the task. He also recommended using AI humaniser applications such as HixdotAI and emphasised training Google LLMs according to individual needs. For accessing archival newspaper references easily, he stressed the importance of using Notebook tools.

Saiful Alam further pointed out that for Bangla translation, licensed Office tools currently deliver up to 99 percent accuracy, while free tools like QuillBot provide around 95 percent accuracy. “AI is a strong assistant, but it cannot replace journalists,” he remarked.

Comparing different platforms, he said DeepSeek has more bugs and is slower than ChatGPT, while Gemini performs better as a digital assistant. However, he cautioned that AI works mostly with second-hand information, whereas first-hand information remains the journalist’s responsibility. He underlined the importance of using AI for background analysis and deep research and suggested that journalists should ultimately aim to develop their own customised AI tools.

The morning session was chaired by DRU General Secretary Mainul Hasan Sohel. Among others present were Gameplify Managing Director Mahfuzur Rahman, DRU Information Technology and Training Editor Mahmud Sohel, and DRU member Mohammad Imam Hossain Sohel.

DBTech/EK/OR