Obstacles and opportunities of integrating AI in Bangladeshi media houses: a managerial perspective

Being globally significant in the journalism sector for the past few years, the utilization of Artificial Intelligence is still minimal in Bangladeshi media houses. This study aims to find the challenges and scopes for the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in the country’s media houses from the media managers’ point of view. To achieve a generalized view, 12 media managers from different media houses have been chosen as samples while taking the Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3) and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory as framework of the study. Four managers each from print newspapers, television channels, and online portals have been taken as samples, and they have been interviewed in-depth. Four thematic areas have been identified from the data obtained by using thematic analysis for presenting the findings of the study. These are: i) diversified perceptions with mostly positive intuitions; ii) lack of organizational policy deepens confusion; iii) an environment of fear stirs up challenges; and, iv) capability to improve, investment to increase. This study illustrates two major findings. First, knowledge gap within the media industry is the main impediment concerning Artificial Intelligence adoption; second, business policy of media owners, and a lack of financial and mental investments regarding Artificial Intelligence are limiting both materialistic and technical resources available to working journalists of the country. However, in this study, the working journalists and the media owners have not been interviewed, which sets some boundaries to the findings as well as opens a path for future work in the field.