Final Year Project Portfolio
Patricia Santos Dias
BA Media and Communications, University of Greenwich
Project in
Practice
Making The Future of Trust: From Tools to Timeline
This project brought together research, AI experimentation, design, and digital production. The result is a self-directed short documentary and a visual timeline that explores how artificial intelligence is shaping, and potentially overtaking, modern journalism. This section documents how the work was made, from the tools I used to the creative and ethical decisions behind them.
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Project proposal here
Ethics form here
Project report here
Survey & Responses here
Survey questions here
The Video: The Future of Trust
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The final film, The Future of Trust, was created using a range of AI-powered platforms alongside traditional video editing tools. It brings together scripted narration, synthetic voiceover, AI-generated visuals, and carefully structured video sequencing to examine the ethical dilemmas posed by artificial intelligence in journalism. The narrative is built around one core idea: that the rise of AI may be reshaping not just how stories are told, but who has the authority to tell them. Through visual metaphor, audio pacing, and reflective language, the documentary highlights the erosion of human involvement in news production and asks what is at stake when machines take the lead in storytelling.
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Step-by-Step Process
Scriptwriting:
The script was developed using ChatGPT, which allowed me to experiment with tone, pacing, and structure. The video focused specifically on trust, authorship, and AI’s ethical risks in journalism.
Voiceover:
The voiceover was generated using Pictory.AI, a platform that transforms text into voice and video. I selected a voice that sounded clear, neutral, and slightly synthetic to reflect the documentary’s themes. The tone was steady and measured, designed to let the message speak for itself without emotional manipulation.
Editing:
The video was assembled in Pictory.AI, where the narration was automatically synced with AI-suggested visuals and subtitles. This gave me a rapid prototype of how the documentary could flow. After this initial edit, I exported the project and moved into Adobe Premiere Pro, where I took greater creative control over timing, clip transitions, text overlays, and pacing. (Image 1 above is from Adobe Premiere Pro, Image 2 is a screengrab from Pictory.AI).
Final Polish:
In Adobe Premiere Pro, I manually adjusted transitions, layered music and ambient sound for mood, and ensured the final export was clean and cohesive. This final stage brought all the elements together into a professional, unified video.
Timeline The Future of A.I in Journalism
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The timeline titled The Future of AI in Journalism was created as a visual companion to the video documentary. Designed as a vertical panel, it maps out key historical milestones in the development of artificial intelligence from 1956 through to 2023, with bold projections extending 5, 10, and 50 years into the future. These predictions reflect the growing presence of AI in media production, from co-authored articles and personalised content delivery to the possible emergence of fully autonomous newsrooms.
The purpose of the timeline is not only to inform but to provoke reflection. It provides a clear visual progression from early AI research to the rapid technological shifts we are witnessing today, contextualising them within journalism’s evolving landscape. By presenting both past and potential futures side by side, the timeline invites viewers to consider how journalism has changed and how quickly it may continue to do so.
Positioned alongside the film screening, the timeline give audiences a grounding framework before and after watching The Future of Trust, helping them understand the historical significance and ethical implications of the material presented in the video.
Physical production:
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The timeline was designed using Canva (see screenshot above), where I developed a clean, minimalist layout that mirrored the visual tone of the video and maintained a clear information hierarchy for readability.
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It is printed on high-quality matte paper to enhance legibility and ensure a professional finish suitable for exhibition display.
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The timleine is mounted and displayed beside the video screen, acting as a visual anchor for the audience, guiding them through the film’s context and key moments in AI’s development.
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Timeline in PDF here
Tools and Techniques Used
ChatGPT
Purpose: Writing and idea development
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Skill Developed: Scriptwriting, editing tone
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Pictory.AI
Purpose: Combining narration, visuals, subtitltes, and voiceover
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Skill Developed: Visual storytelling, video structuring
Adobe Premiere
Purpose: Final video editing and audio mixing
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Skill Developed: Transition work and media delivery
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Wix
Purpose: Building and managing the portfolio website
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Skill Developed:
Web layout and content design
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Reflection on Practice
This project has been a deep and personal learning experience, shaped entirely through hands-on work, experimentation, and adaptation. I began with a strong concept but without a perfect roadmap. As I explored the tools available to me, many of which I had never used before, I had to quickly adjust to new workflows and challenges that pushed my creative thinking and technical flexibility.
My focus was never on achieving flawless execution. Instead, I prioritised clarity, consistency, and meaningful storytelling. Every step of the process, from writing a script with AI to producing physical display materials, was guided by the question: how can I communicate this complex issue in a way that feels accessible and thought-provoking?
Throughout the development of the video and timeline, I learned how to make deliberate choices across multiple platforms. I worked with generative tools, voice software, video editors, and layout programs, always asking how each could contribute to the overall message. I became not just a researcher or media student, but a creative practitioner using technology to spark dialogue about the future of journalism.
More than anything, this project helped me understand that success in digital storytelling is not about technical perfection. It is about making the right choices to serve an idea. It taught me to be intentional, to stay critical, and to recognise how the tools we use shape the narratives we create.