?Ç£AI will take away some jobs,?Ç¥ said Zakka Jacob, Managing Editor of CNN News18, in his characteristic no-nonsense manner while delivering a powerful keynote address on ?ÇÿUse of AI in the News Media: Will It Take Away Jobs??ÇÖ He was speaking at the 5th edition of IMAGEXX Summit and Awards 2025, being held in Delhi today. Rejecting hyperbole while delivering hard truths, Jacob urged the industry to brace for an imminent, revolutionary shift. A Disruption in Our LifetimeJacob began with a light-hearted anecdote: despite calculating a one hour 20?minute drive from Noida to the venue, slowed down by typical airport traffic, he had made it in just an hour. ?Ç£Maybe they were using AI to figure out traffic in Delhi. Maybe my driver was fiddling around with ChatGPT,?Ç¥ he quipped, drawing smiles and nods from the crowd. Bringing the tone of urgency, he cautioned: ?Ç£We are at a phenomenal crossroads. The change that is going to come with the advent of artificial intelligence is nothing short of perhaps the severest disruption that we have seen in the communication industry in the last 20, 30, 40 years.?Ç¥ Jacob drew parallels to the transformative impact of print going digital, the advent of 24/7 television, and the explosion of YouTube and Instagram. But AI, he insisted, is history?ÇÖs most consequential shift yet. ?Ç£And maybe I?ÇÖm hyping up AI. Maybe you?ÇÖre worried whether AI will take your job. And let?ÇÖs be honest about it?Ǫ Yes, AI will take some jobs, no doubt about it.?Ç¥ The AI Wave Is Real ?Çö And Already HereJacob emphasized AI?ÇÖs ripple beyond the media: ?Ç£It?ÇÖs going to change any and every industry where there are repetitive tasks, assembly line jobs, where there is collation of large amounts of data.?Ç¥ He reminded the audience how generative AI models are now reaching artificial general intelligence, offering surprising logic: ?Ç£These large language models are beginning to think and rationalize like human beings do. They are asking questions... giving answers in a logical sequential way.?Ç¥ He argued that the repercussions aren?ÇÖt limited to commerce alone. ?Ç£This is probably going to disrupt our lives. People are talking about having AI dating partners... AI as your shrink, your psychologist.?Ç¥ He pointed out how tech giants are racing to deliver AI companions: Comet from Perplexity, OpenAI?ÇÖs AI-driven browser, and Google?ÇÖs Gemini 2.5. Major platforms are already shifting their incentive structures to favour original content over ?Ç£AI?repurposed?Ç¥ work. ?Ç£The algorithm is disincentivizing that,?Ç¥ he noted.At the same time, he asserted that amid this landscape, ?Ç£the value of human intelligence is also going to be prioritized?Ç¥. ?Ç£Prompt engineering is going to be a big focus area going forward... like what data analysts were 10 years ago. They?ÇÖre going to be the new frontier,?Ç¥ he conjectured. Jobs on the Chopping Block ?Çö And Those That Will RisePausing to address the looming threat, Jacob warned: ?Ç£Yes, AI will take away some jobs, particularly if you?ÇÖre in repetitive jobs.?Ç¥ He cited examples: sound mixers ?Ç£whose only job is to move the fader up and down?Ç¥; video editors simply matching images to scripts; anchors reading teleprompters. ?Ç£That?ÇÖs not very hard for an AI clone to replicate.?Ç¥ But he drew a firm line: ?Ç£If you are somebody who adds value, or gives perspective to a story which only you can give, then AI can?ÇÖt replace that?Ǫ AI cannot take away the soul and feel and empathy.?Ç¥ Recounting why he entered journalism decades ago, he reminded attendees: ?Ç£Inherent curiosity?Ǫ about this unfair world. Inherent empathy?Ǫ machine learning can never get you empathy. It can never get you soul or feel.?Ç¥ Realities in Action: Documentaries & AI in the NewsroomJacob described two major projects made possible by AI: Operation SINDOOR: 88 Hours That Changed India With limited access to visuals, they used AI to recreate conversations in the Cabinet Committee on Security and Pakistani military discussions. ?Ç£We generated images?Ǫ labelled it as such. We said this is AI-generated.?Ç¥ It struck a chord: the documentary went on to be the highest?rated English news show that week. Air India 171 Crash CoverageUsing the DGCA?ÇÖs preliminary cockpit data, they recreated in-cockpit sequences via AI. ?Ç£From feedback I?ÇÖve got, people have received that well. We wouldn?ÇÖt have been able to do that otherwise.?Ç¥ He noted how traditional sketch artists?Çöwho once painstakingly recreated sensitive scenes?Çöare now being replaced. This, he said, is ?Ç£level 0.1?Ç¥ of what AI can achieve. Other applications include AI?generated visuals for the tragic Gurugram case, wherein a promising young tennis player was shot dead by her own father, and the use of tools like 11labs to replicate broadcast?quality voiceovers. ?Ç£Voice-over artists, will they be running out of a job in a few years from now??Ç¥ he asked rhetorically. The Human-Driven Future of AI-Powered WorkLooking ahead, Jacob named several emerging roles essential to an AI-augmented media industry: AI content editors who verify authenticity in real time; ethics and bias auditors who judge algorithmic output; data visualisers and AI video editors; and ?Ç£AI trainers?Ç¥?Çöprofessionals who teach large language models how to ask better, more nuanced questions. He cited a session by AI educator Vaibhav Sisinty, highlighting how even prompt engineering can become automated?Çöbut still needs human oversight. ?Ç£Human intelligence will not be replaced by AI,?Ç¥ Jacob stated emphatically, but to leverage AI fully, ?Ç£you need that little reservoir of knowledge?Ǫ only then can you leverage [AI] 5x, 10x, 20x.?Ç¥ This, he compared to securing a mortgage: you need both the asset and the capacity to repay. AI, he suggested, offers extraordinary leverage?Çöbut demands human maturity and skill. Final Message: Adapt or FadeDrawing from his own experience across decades of media evolution?Çöfrom print to digital?ÇöJacob closed with clarity and resoluteness. ?Ç£I lived through the COVID era when a lot of people stopped subscribing to newspapers?Ǫ it?ÇÖs got back to 80%... plus another clean slate 100x growth through online publishing.?Ç¥ But he reminded professionals that AI cannot replicate core human traits. ?Ç£Artificial intelligence cannot feel, it cannot empathize, it cannot bring soul.?Ç¥ And while AI can visualize, ?Ç£it cannot empathize.?Ç¥ To thrive, he urged, individuals and organizations must ?Ç£upskill, reskill, adapt?Ǫ treat AI like it?ÇÖs your intern, your secretary, your butler?Çötrain the language model to do your work better than you can do your work.?Ç¥ His closing lines carried the weight of both caution and opportunity: ?Ç£I asked ChatGPT for a closing quote. It said, ?ÇÿLet your headlines shape the world, but let your heart shape the headlines.?ÇÖ I said, no?Çöthat?ÇÖs not good enough. Then it said, ?ÇÿAI will not replace us, but those who use AI will replace us.?ÇÖ So, I leave it at that.?Ç¥