AI-FLUENT Podcast

In a new episode of AI-FLUENT, I am talking to Bruno Fávero, a journalist who became Director of Innovation at one of Brazil's leading fact-checking websites Aos Fatos.

They developed their own bots that tackle misinformation and tools that not only document digital lies and hate but also how the "distorted algorithms" of apps and platforms contributed to their spread.

So, what can we all learn from Aos Fatos' business model with its focus on tech and fact-checking?

Main Things We've Discussed:

Tattle, one of India's pioneering civic tech organisations using AI to combat online gender-based violence. 

In this new episode of AI-FLUENT, Tattle's co-founder Tarunima Prabhakar shares insights into Tattle's innovative projects, including Uli, which helps women navigate harmful online content, and their Deepfake Analysis Unit deployed during India's recent elections. 

We explore the complex challenges of making technology accessible to less tech-savvy women while balancing relationships with Big Tech platforms and governments. 

Main Topics We Discussed in This Episode:

We usually talk about biased data and inaccurate interpretations regarding technology that comes from the East, China for example. Yet we rarely discuss the lack of transparency and biased data produced by Western tech companies.

So it was refreshing to have this conversation with Rana Arafat, Assistant Professor in Digital Journalism at City, University of London.

How are Arab newsrooms, especially in Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE, adapting to generative AI technologies? How do the governments of these countries regulate and control AI technology, and how do Big Tech companies operate in authoritarian countries in the Middle East?

In this new episode of AI-FLUENT, we also discussed Indian Elections and the Israel-Gaza War through the lens of AI manipulation, disinformation and algorithmic bias.

Main Topics We Discussed in This Episode:

Marius Dragomir, the Founding Director of the Media and Journalism Research Centre, shares with me the most surprising findings from his recent research on propaganda narratives, as well as the revealing discoveries about ownership and financial aspects of the 100 AI tools most used by journalists.

Remember that 67 % of these 100 tools lack critical data on ownership and finances. Check the tools you are using.

How can the media industry become less dependent on Big Tech? One of the possible solutions lies with audiences and the private sector. We are discussing the case of the Czech Republic – what makes it so special?

Main things we've discussed in this episode:

Do you believe you care about facts more than people in India? For a split second, did you notice any bias in your quick mental response?

Whom do you trust more when it comes to news: a well-established media brand or your closest friend who runs a popular current affairs YouTube channel? Who do you think is more likely to spread misinformation?

As Meta and other tech giants show their allegiance to Trump's administration and become increasingly partisan, will financial connections with these platforms become a reputational liability for the media industry?

We discuss these and many other technology, storytelling, and misinformation-related issues in this episode of AI-FLUENT with Rakesh Dubbudu, founder and CEO of India's fact-checking website, Factly.

Main Topics We Discussed in This Episode:

Why do we choose to read or watch something - are we manipulated by algorithms? Do we have any cognitive independence? How and where will we receive news in the near future? In a world where the majority of content will be created by AI, how will we know whom to trust?

And what does neuroscience tell us about all of that? In a nutshell, these are the questions we tried to answer in this episode with Mariano Blejman, an Argentinian media entrepreneur and the founder of the Media Party festival in Buenos Aires.

Main Topics We Discussed in This Episode:

Technology has a value but doesn't have values, reminds us Madhav Chinnappa. It's up to us humans who have values to define how the technology will be used and whether it will bring more good than evil.

The majority of us are now in a so-called efficiency phase of using AI tools, thinking mainly about how to optimise things. However, those who will jump to a creativity phase more quickly will have an advantage. Ask yourself which phase you are in now. And if you are still only in the first one, you really should be thinking about how to move on to the second, and quickly.

Main Topics We Discussed in This Episode:

As a media organisation, they stand on three pillars: journalism, technology and the wisdom of crowds. From the very beginning, they have worked at the intersection of journalism, technology and community engagement.

It was co-founded by a woman who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for safeguarding freedom of expression and for her efforts to address corruption in her country.

They were the first media organisation in their country to publish guidelines on AI use in 2023.

They were among ten digital media organisations selected by OpenAI to participate in "innovative experiments around deliberative technologies".

By now, I am sure you have guessed that in a new episode of the AI-FLUENT podcast, I am talking to Gemma Mendoza. Along with Maria Ressa and other journalists, she was one of the co-founders of Rappler, the most prominent Filipino news website. Now she leads digital innovation and disinformation research at Rappler.

Main Topics We Discussed In This Episode:

Are you a small newsroom or a one-person content creator, and are you, like this episode's guest, happy to fail fast and fail often? You might not have a designated tech team, yet you want to use AI-powered tools to speed up your work and solve certain problems.

Are you tempted to use AI to produce even more content? Pause here and reconsider: might there be better ways to use generative AI to advance your work and develop a deeper understanding of those whom you serve?

We are discussing all of this and more with Tshepo Tshabalala from LSE's JournalismAI global initiative, which helps small newsrooms devise ideas and solutions for using AI wisely and responsibly. I started this conversation by asking Tshepo what kinds of projects they work on with different newsrooms around the world.

Main Topics We Discussed In This Episode:

If journalism is valuable, as many of us think, why don't people pay for it? That's the question Alan returned to several times during our conversation. And he actually gave the answer, an existential answer to this question.

What's the purpose of your newsroom? Why do you exist as a media organisation? What audience needs do you serve? If you are able to answer these questions honestly without any corporate fluff, you come closer to answering the money question: why should people pay for your content?

'We have gone past peak content', Alan says. Nobody wakes up in the morning wanting more content - people want to get stuff done, they want a sense of community, they want to learn something new, they want to have fun etc. The problem is, as Alan points out, that many newsrooms still operate as if people wake up wanting more content for the sake of content. Wake up!

Come back and listen to us on January 9, 2025 for an all new episode.