Tony Elkins is a journalist and citizen of the Comanche Nation who worries he’s becoming the doom and gloom person among those focusing on how AI will affect the journalism industry. As a faculty member at the Poynter Institute, Elkins has closely followed the challenges and opportunities AI is creating for both reporters and their readers. In this week’s episode, Elkins and host Peter Bittner have a sobering conversation about AI scams, deep fake horror stories and how – despite the odds – AI can still be used as a force for good.

Show Notes:

(1:55) What the Poynter Institute does

(5:00) The implications of AI for photographers

(7:34) How photo organizations and tech companies can combat the spread of fake, AI-generated images online

(9:42) Taylor Swift and AI deep fakes

(13:55) Willy Wonka and the perfect AI scam

(16:19) How AI could influence reputable publications that rely on a paywall

(18:10) The implications of generative search

(21:03) Peter’s community talk about AI in Washington State

(22:19) Some tech workers are sounding the alarm over publicly-available AI tools

(23:01) The dangers of the AI visual generator HeyGen

(26:03) The Martha’s Vineyard Times, an example of how AI can help local news reach diverse audiences 

To follow the Poynter Institute’s valuable work head on over to:

https://www.poynter.org

Connect with Tony Elkins on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-elkins-0a827870/

Learn more about The Upgrade and our online courses

Connect on LinkedIn with Peter Bittner, The Upgrade’s founder and CEO

Special thanks to Mitch Walker for helping to design the podcast’s artwork