The accelerated development and institutionalisation of artificial intelligence (AI) has become a transformative force in journalism. Newsrooms are simultaneously experimenting with innovation frameworks and seeking to institutionalise AI to enhance productivity and sustainability (e.g., Nic Newman & Federica Cherubini, 2025). At the same time, debates around governance, accountability, labour impacts and “human-in-the-loop” models (e.g., Felix Simon, 2024), as well as structural inequalities identified by WAN-IFRA (2023) and concerns about algorithmic transparency (e.g., Nicholas Diakopoulos, 2019), underscore the urgency of enhanced AI literacy and targeted training. This work examines the appropriation of AI by journalists in Portuguese newsrooms through a questionnaire administered to a non-probabilistic sample of media professionals. Preliminary results reveal widespread uncertainty: although respondents recognise AI’s usefulness for productivity, confidence in its broader contribution to journalism remains limited. Concerns about dependency, disinformation, and ethical risks outweigh optimism. Most journalists report being self-taught, with limited access to structured professional training. These findings point to a profession integrating a disruptive technology amid structural pressures, in a country where trust in news remains comparatively high (e.g., Gustavo Cardoso et al., 2025). The present work argues for a reconfiguration of journalism education, moving beyond an instrumental tool use towards critical AI literacy, data skills and ethical reasoning. As part of a broader project, future research will explore how journalism students perceive their role in narrowing the technological gap and what knowledge deficits they identify in their training, connecting professional practice with educational expectations.

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artificial intelligence,journalism training,algorithmic literacy,newsroom adaptation,journalism education,Portugal