The AI Did It (And Other Things That Won't Hold Up in Court)

AI is no longer experimental in journalism. Newsrooms across the world are using large language models and other AI tools to draft, summarise, translate, and verify their news products, yet neither domestic media law nor the international human rights frameworks designed to protect press freedom have kept pace. Tom Broderick, a final year PhD Candidate and Media Law lecturer, examines how AI-driven workflows in journalism create new legal risks across two tracks: the effect on domestic media law causes of action, and the effect on Freedom of Expression. The talk argues that the law's structural inability to keep pace with AI is not just a regulatory problem, it is a press freedom problem, and one that the next generation of media lawyers is uniquely placed to address.

Tom Broderick

Tom Broderick is a final year PhD Candidate at the University of Edinburgh. His doctoral research examines the growing use of automation and AI tools in newsrooms and whether existing regulatory frameworks are equipped to accommodate these developments, or whether they require recalibration to avoid prohibiting legitimate journalistic innovation. He is also a Visiting Lecturer at City St George's, University of London, and the University of Westminster, where he teaches the legal principles of media law and their practical application within journalism.