When tech writes the story, do we still need the press?

After a recent lecture I delivered on communications at a Chinese university, a student came up to me and enquired about the impact of deep tech on media power. Deep tech is a loose term encompassing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and other non-legacy, post-internet innovations.

She was curious about how these shifts might affect the employability of aspiring media professionals like herself. I remember mumbling something to reassure her. But as I walked away, a deep sense of anxiety set in. Her question was a rude awakening: journalism has never been in more dire straits globally, due in large part to the rise of deep tech.

In China, a large swathe of state-run media is feeling the squeeze as government funding shrinks — or in some cases, dries up entirely amid a slowing economy. Compounding these woes is the blow dealt by technological forces, particularly AI-generated content (AIGC). Much has been written about journalists embracing AIGC and chatbots to change how they work. From information curation to text-to-image and video generation, AI has sharply reduced the need for human labour in Chinese newsrooms, as elsewhere. Despite issues such as illusion and misinformation, the efficiency gains are undeniable.

At a deeper level, however, AIGC is eroding the “fourth estate” media power over narrative production and distribution. It automates content creation and enables algorithm-driven, hyper-personalised dissemination that far outpaces traditional editorial processes.

Most critically, agenda-setting power is being weakened. Traditionally, institutional media decided what counted as news. Algorithms now identify emerging topics in real time, amplifying them into fast-evolving agenda. The media often struggle to catch up rather than lead the conversation.

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan notes that digital humans, code-based agents and autonomous driving have been validated in practice. In e-commerce livestreaming and customer service, digital humans have developed into capable “digital employees”. As the Five-Year Plan gets underway, digital humans are set to embed more deeply into everyday business scenarios.

Consequently, tech launches are increasingly shifting to immersive virtual formats run end-to-end by AI agents that present, host and field questions. Digital avatars of founders could emerge as always-on storytellers, engaging directly with the public and targeted communities, and replacing some functions once filled by interviews. A CEO publicly “interviewing” his or her own virtual counterpart, or vice versa, may no longer be an outlandish notion.

Early signs are visible. During search giant Baidu’s third-quarter earnings call in November 2025, an AI avatar of founder Robin Li delivered nearly 20 minutes of fluent English remarks without analysts noticing. Only the Q&A session marked the return of the real Li. Agentic AI has yet to achieve truly seamless, intuitive human-machine interaction, but the trajectory is clear. 

Even without AIGC, media authority in China has been eviscerated for years, partly by systemic, self-inflicted constraints and partly by their own inability to adapt quickly enough to the tech age. 

Institutional outlets once acted as the primary interpreters of technological change. Today, deep tech increasingly narrates itself — through spectacle and direct engagement — closing the loop from content creation to distribution, from shaping public opinion to generating business leads.

For instance, the rise of humanoid robots in China did not begin with traditional media. Unitree, a leading player, is literally as much a film company as it is a robotics firm. Its viral quadruped and humanoid robot videos regularly garner millions of views on YouTube and domestic social platforms. Media mostly followed as “earned traffic”, meaning spontaneous coverage.

Within this new ecosystem, the press can be sidelined, even bypassed or disintermediated. Tech companies occasionally go so far as to dictate the terms of interviews themselves, instead of following traditional media playbooks.

Unlike executives who court major outlets, Unitree’s founder Wang Xingxing, whom I know personally, once declined a major media interview I recommended, brushing off Western editorial conventions such as appearing alongside rivals for the sake of balanced reporting.

In corporate communications, so-called owned media, or channels a company controls, and earned media, which denotes organic, unpaid third-party coverage, have long been twin pillars of brand building. In the past, exposure in established outlets boosted visibility and fundraising prospects for startups. Today, that influence carries less weight, as the balance of power has tilted in favour of tech companies.

A broader change is the pivot to native platforms. Tech bosses are essentially newsmakers in their own right. Think Elon Musk, or Xiaomi’s media-savvy CEO Lei Jun. With hundreds of millions of followers, they are capable of initiating viral interactions directly with livestreams or just a social media post.

Once again, media are relegated to transmitters, amplifiers or validators in these cases, rather than trendsetters, investigators or meaningful contributors to value creation.

Beyond investing in AI literacy and deploying agents to streamline workflows, journalists in China need to ask themselves: are they prepared to upskill for the deep-tech era?

Media serve different roles, and not every outlet needs to become a tech specialist. But without domain knowledge and a commitment to continuous learning, deep-tech coverage risks sliding into superficial commentary and recycled platitudes.

That’s why tech journalists should think like angel investors. Emerging startups and nascent technologies need to be on the radar well before their Sputnik moments. Otherwise, when disruption does arrive, it leaves reporters totally unprepared and embarrassingly silent.

With this in mind, I sent that inquisitive student a note of encouragement, hoping she would see that confidence for media professionals in the AI era comes from keeping pace with change — and from cutting through consensus and noise to scrutinise claims and keep asking relevant questions.

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