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

At SPIEF 2026, India Today Group Vice-Chairperson and Editor-in-Chief Kalli Purie underlined that AI must support, not replace, newsroom judgement. Other speakers from Russia and China echoed concerns over conscience, cybersecurity and the risks of unchecked automation.

In Short

• Kalli Purie says future will see AI and human creativity coexist
• Says algorithms chase profit without newsroom-style moderation
• Highlights 'handmade by reporters' feature to counter AI-era lazy journalism

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 pannelist 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 them.

THE AI SANDWICH MODEL

Purie argued that algorithms are primarily driven by engagement and profit. This, in turn, lacks the calibration that traditional journalism provides, Purie further said.

"Newsrooms do moderation and calibration. Algorithms do not do that because they are based on values of profit and engagement," she said.

Thus, to preserve original reporting and human judgment, Purie pointed out that India Today launched an initiative called "handmade by reporters". She said this was designed to counter what she described as "lazy journalism" in the age of AI.

"We tried as an opposite to the lazy journalist... to create an entire subsection called handmade by editors and reporters... focusing on what they saw, what they heard rather than a more vanilla report," Purie said. This not only adds gravity to the reporting but also helps establish a connection with the reader.

The executive editor-in-chief of the India Today Group said the future would see AI and human creativity coexist. For this, Purie described an "AI sandwich" model that is already being used in the India Today newsroom operations.

Under this model, journalists remain involved both at the beginning and at the end of the editorial process, while AI is used in the middle to improve efficiency and productivity.

"Our newsroom is something called the AI sandwich, which is that you start with a human, you have AI in between to increase efficiency... but then it again ends with a human touch or a human print so that the final approval remains with humans," she said.

Before signing off, Purie asserted that India was well-positioned not only as a major consumer of AI, but also in developing innovative applications built on existing AI models developed by big tech.

'AI DOES NOT HAVE A CONSCIENCE'

Echoing Purie, Maria Zakharova, director of the press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, underlined that AI should remain a tool that supports human abilities rather than replacing them.

Highlighting the pitfalls of over-reliance on AI, Zakharova was quick to point out that AI lacks conscience. She cautioned that if society prioritised convenience over human values, it could face serious consequences.

"AI does not have a conscience... losing conscience as a benchmark for human development can lead to very bad results," Zakharova said.

Wang Bin, director of the Eurasian Bureau of China Media Group, highlighted concerns over data security as organisations increasingly adopt AI tools that require broader system access. "Balancing efficiency with cybersecurity remains a major challenge," Bin said.

Bin said China was working towards developing industry-specific AI models for the media sector. He underlined that a key priority was the creation of a national AI infrastructure.

So, what can we conclude? It is clear that AI is here to stay. But human oversight remains essential despite the AI boom.

- Ends