Josh Helmuth is the morning news anchor on KRDO in Colorado Springs.  He recently shared his thoughts about AI in the TV newsroom on LinkedIn. That post is reproduced here with his permission.

 

AI is coming for TV news.
But probably not in the way you think.

It’s not going to replace you. It’s going to replace the version of you that isn’t paying attention.

Here’s what I’m actually seeing in newsrooms right now:
AI is already writing first drafts of scripts.
AI is already clipping highlights for social.
AI is already generating chyrons, summaries, and web copy.

Some stations are using it to do in minutes what used to take hours.
So what does that mean for YOU?

It means the skills that make you irreplaceable just got more important — not less.

No algorithm has a source who texts back at 11pm.
No AI builds trust with a grieving mother outside a courthouse.
No chatbot makes a split-second ethical call during breaking news and gets it right.

What AI can’t replicate:
Your relationships
Your judgment
Your presence on camera
Your ability to ask the follow-up nobody saw coming
The moment you decide to stop asking questions and just listen

But here’s the honest part most people won’t say out loud:
If you’re coasting — reading scripts you didn’t write, skipping the enterprise work, showing up and clocking out — AI doesn’t have to replace you.
You’re already replaceable.

The journalists who will thrive in the next 10 years are the ones who use AI as a tool and show up as a human.

Learn the tools.
Master your craft.
Build real relationships.
Be the thing AI can’t be.