The latest episode of ADAPT Radio examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping access to information, public trust, and democratic debate.
Hosted by Dr Claire O’Connell, the episode, AI Knowledge and the Future of Trustworthy Information, brings together Professor Jennifer Edmond, Professor in Digital Humanities and Culture at Trinity College Dublin, and Éamonn Kennedy, Chief Innovation Officer at News Corp. The conversation spans everything from newsroom algorithms and verification practices to the challenges of understanding complex information ecosystems through increasingly personalised digital channels.
As AI-generated text, images and video become easier to produce and harder to distinguish, the pressure to find trusted sources of information is intensifying. Recent coverage in the media has highlighted the growing challenge posed by deepfakes and AI-generated content highlighting the risks to civic trust and democratic participation.
In the episode, Professor Edmond reflects on a paradox of the information age where access to information has expanded dramatically, but the sheer volume of content is overwhelming people’s ability to process it. This overload is pushing many towards seeking a single trusted source of information and that role is increasingly being filled by large language models trained on big volumes of online data, rather than by accountable institutions or identifiable experts. Professor Edmond argues that responding to this shift requires a renewed focus on digital literacy and on helping people feel agency over the information they encounter rather than passively accepting what is presented to them.
Mr Kennedy brings a journalism and product innovation perspective to the conversation, arguing that in a world of synthetic content, journalism’s core principles of verification, transparency and provenance become even more valuable. He argues that the role of journalists in explaining where information comes from, how it has been verified and checked, and why it matters is gaining renewed importance. Their discussion echoes the wider public debate about the relationship between AI companies and trusted news content, and how society should recognise and protect the value of reliable reporting as AI systems increasingly draw on it.
The episode also highlights Professor Edmond’s work through the European Commission-funded KT4D (Knowledge Technologies for Democracy) project, which examines the intersection of AI, big data and democracy through a humanities lens. A key outcome of this work is the Digital Democracy Lab, an interactive platform designed to introduce constructive friction into civic technology. By prompting users to pause and interrogate how systems profile them, what data is being used, and what assumptions are built into the technology, the Lab aims to support more informed and reflective engagement with digital platforms, particularly where democratic participation and public debate are concerned.
AI governance is now moving rapidly from theory to practice. Policymakers, researchers and organisations are grappling with how to ensure accountability, transparency, and public trust can exist alongside rapid technological change. In this digital age, the stakes for trusted media and reliable information have never been higher.
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