The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Journalistic Ethics in Afghanistan: Opportunities and Challenges

AI is transforming journalism worldwide, particularly in the production, dissemination and administration of news content. In Afghanistan, limited infrastructure, low digital literacy and fragile institutional frameworks hinder the use of AI in journalism. AI has the potential to greatly enhance journalism, but it also raises serious ethical questions around transparency, accuracy, accountability, fairness, privacy and public trust. Despite an increasing amount of international and regional research, empirical evidence on the ethical implications of AI in Afghan journalism remains limited. The present study used the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to explore the effect of artificial intelligence on journalistic ethics in Afghanistan. It examines the impact of perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, opportunities and challenges on the intention to use and actual use of AI by journalists and their implications for ethical journalistic practice. The research design was quantitative in nature and data were analyzed with the help of descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA. The results show that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and perceived opportunities positively and significantly influence journalists’ intention to use and actual use of AI. The study also found that AI enhances news verification, information processing and newsroom efficiency but there are ethical challenges such as algorithmic bias, lack of transparency, risks of misinformation, privacy issues and reduced editorial accountability. Most of the demographic variables did not show a statistically significant difference except for educational level in selected variables. The research finds that AI has great potential to support journalism in Afghanistan, but its effective use requires ethical oversight, appropriate regulatory mechanisms, professional development and strong human oversight to protect journalistic integrity and maintain public confidence.