By Celine Abuga
Like any beginner, I started frustrated — the tools often seemed to give me everything except what I actually wanted
My relationship with Artificial Intelligence (AI) began in outright distrust. With a deeply conservative outlook, I saw these tools as little more than crutches for the lazy — shortcuts for people who wanted to rush work and dodge real effort. For years I kept my distance. ChatGPT was the only AI I’d even heard of, and I refused to touch it.
That stubborn scepticism finally cracked during a transformative training programme run by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television-Kenya (IAWRT- Kenya) in partnership with Kenya Correspondents Association , Google and with the support of SIDA and APC. Designed for female journalists, the course opened my eyes to the responsible, ethical use of AI and its game-changing potential in modern newsrooms. Above all, it drove home an unbreakable rule: credibility and integrity must remain non-negotiable, no matter how powerful the technology.
Today, AI is woven into the fabric of my daily work and I’m a better journalist because of it.
Google Gemini’s Deep Research feature has become indispensable. It rapidly summarises and analyses complex information and allows me to double-check responses across text, images, audio and video with unprecedented confidence. When recent by-elections were swamped with mis- and disinformation, combining Gemini with AI Image Verification tools (notably SynthID watermark detection) and trusted classics — Google Reverse Image Search, FotoForensics, TinEye and InVID — gave me a formidable arsenal for spotting and exposing AI-generated fakes. The result? Faster, sharper, more credible fact-checking.
Then there is Google Pinpoint — nothing short of revelatory. Whether I need quick answers to straightforward questions, concise summaries of lengthy documents, side-by-side comparisons or precise data extraction, Pinpoint delivers. What used to be gruelling research is now genuinely enjoyable. I’ve leaned on it to consolidate evidence and fact-check claims in President William Ruto’s State of the Nation Address. As a mentor on an investigative reporting programme, it has also proved invaluable for guiding younger journalists through topic research and rigorous verification.
Like any beginner, I started frustrated — the tools often seemed to give me everything except what I actually wanted. The turning point was simple but profound: I realised the problem wasn’t the tools; it was my prompting. The more I practised crafting clear, structured questions, the better the results became. A universal truth emerged: the better the prompt, the better the outcome.
My initial suspicion has melted away. Far from being a lazy shortcut, AI — when used responsibly — has become a trusted ally that amplifies accuracy, deepens analysis, and upholds the highest journalistic standards. I am no longer just a user of these tools. I’m an advocate.
