Newsroom Robots

Nick Diakopoulos, Communication Studies and Computer Science Professor at Northwestern University joins Nikita Roy to discuss the opportunities fine-tuning Large Language Models offer for news organizations, and the impact of generative AI on news production and the broader information ecosystem. 

Nick directs the Computational Journalism Lab and is Director of Graduate Studies for the Technology and Social Behavior doctoral program. He's also the author of the award-winning book "Automating the News: How Algorithms are Rewriting the Media," published by Harvard University Press. His research focuses on computational journalism, including automation and algorithms in news production and algorithmic accountability and transparency. 

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Francesco Marconi, the co-founder and CEO of AppliedXL, joins Nikita Roy to discuss the opportunities and challenges that Large Language Models present to the news industry, emphasizing the need for collaboration between tech companies and newsrooms. Francesco also covers copyright and data access challenges and proposes long-term business model innovations to support news organizations and the AI sector. He also shares how his company AppliedXL uses AI combined with human expertise to detect events in real-time biotech data and generate specialized reporting for STAT News.

Francesco shares his perspective from years of experience leading AI initiatives at major news organizations. He served as the R&D Chief at The Wall Street Journal, leading a team of data scientists and computational journalists in developing AI-driven newsroom tools. Before that, he managed AI strategy at the Associated Press and co-led their content automation and artificial intelligence efforts. Francesco has been an affiliate researcher at the MIT Media Lab and a Tow Fellow at Columbia University. His work and ideas have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Politico, Forbes, and the World Economic Forum. His book, "Newsmakers: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Journalism," was published by Columbia University Press in 2020.

On Tuesday, he testified before the UK Parliament's Communications and Digital Committee as an AI expert on Large Language Models. The committee held evidence sessions exploring the benefits of LLMs to the UK economy, their immediate risks, potential catastrophic impacts, and the broader challenges posed by this technology.

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Chris Dinn joins Nikita Roy to talk about building AI bots for his Toronto news startup, Torontoverse. Chris also explores the Online News Act's effects in Canada and AI's potential impact on the news industry.

Chris is the Emmy award-winning founder and publisher of Torontoverse, a Toronto-based digital news startup harnessing cutting-edge technology for local news delivery. He earned his Emmy in Technology and Engineering for his contributions at mDialog, an innovator in integrating live video streams with advertisements, later acquired by Google.

At 19, Chris entered the media realm, selling ads for his college newspaper. His zeal for innovation guided him to mDialog, where he was instrumental in reshaping the video ad landscape. Following its acquisition by Google, Chris dedicated six years as a software engineer focusing on publisher ads. In 2022, he launched his publishing venture, torontoverse.com.

Referenced in the episode: 

1. Meet TorontoBot: Torontoverse’s AI-powered municipal budget analyst
2. Try out TorontoBot
3. How Torontoverse built their AI-powered newsletter

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Mark Hansen joins Nikita Roy to discuss how generative AI can enhance data journalism, particularly by accelerating coding tasks. The discussion also addresses bias and privacy concerns associated with AI models.

Mark is the East Coast Director of The Brown Institute for Media Innovation, a collaborative initiative between Columbia Journalism School and Stanford's School of Engineering. 

Mark began his tenure at Columbia Journalism School over a decade ago, serving as a Professor and teaching computational and data journalism courses.

An investigation in one of his classes examining the bot economy behind the sale of fake followers on Twitter garnered significant attention. 

It became a front-page story in the New York Times and was part of a package of stories that secured the 2019 Polk Award for National Reporting. Additionally, it was shortlisted for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting.

Mark Hansen earned his Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BS in Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Davis.

Referenced:

Sorting Things Out: Classification and Its Consequences by Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh Star

Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C. Scott

Data Feminism by Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren Klein

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Liam Andrew, the Chief Product Officer at The Texas Tribune joins Nikita Roy to discuss how they built a data warehouse and analytics hub to provide transparency around key metrics for their newsroom. Liam also shares how The Tribune has implemented tools like automatic content tagging and content recommendations using AI. 

In his role at the Tribune, Liam leads the newsroom's software strategy and operations, and oversees the engineering, design, and analytics teams. He joined the Tribune in 2015 as a developer, bringing a background in software engineering, product strategy, and user experience design from media startups and academic research labs. 

Tune in to hear how a non profit newsroom in the United States has been leading in AI adoption. 

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Uli Köppen, head of the AI + Automation Lab at German Public Broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk, joins Nikita Roy to discuss how BR's newsroom has integrated AI across its entire news cycle. Uli shares her team's work on algorithmic accountability, AI strategy, generative AI experiments, and their experience integrating AI in the newsroom.

Uli also co-leads BR Data, the newsroom's investigative data team. The award-winning team at BR Data is pioneering the future of AI in journalism, drawing upon the experience of journalists, coders, and product developers to specialize in investigative data stories, interactive storytelling, and experimentation with AI. 

In 2019, she spent a year at Harvard and MIT as a Nieman Fellow, focusing on algorithmic accountability, machine bias, and automation in journalism. She also participated in the Online News Association's Women's Leadership Accelerator in 2022.

Tune in to learn about advanced AI-driven media from one of Europe's leading voices in the field.

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Jeremy Caplan joins Nikita Roy to discuss the evolving landscape of AI tools by analyzing their use cases, addressing the challenges they present, and offering tips for enhancing productivity through strategic AI adoption

Jeremy Caplan is the Director of Teaching and Learning at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. He also leads the school's Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program — a 100-day online curriculum that guides independent journalists to build new ventures.

Before transitioning to academia, Jeremy was a Time Magazine reporter writing about digital innovation. He is also the person behind Wonder Tools, a weekly newsletter that zeros in on the most useful digital tools to boost productivity.  He studied public policy at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School and subsequently earned an MS in Journalism as a Knight-Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University and an MBA as a Wiegers Fellow at Columbia University.He is a violinist who formerly served as the Concertmaster of the International Symphony Orchestra in Israel. 

Tools discussed in this episode: 

• ChatGPT
• Claude
• Bing Chatbot
• Bard
• Poe
• Personal.ai
• Woebot
• Character.ai
• RunwayML
• Kapwing
• Descript
• Wotchit.ai
• Superhuman
• Bloks.app
• 4149.ai
• Supernormal
• Intros.ai

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Scott Brodbeck joins Nikita Roy to discuss his experiments using generative AI in his local newsroom, from creating completely AI-generated newsletters and AI-generated videos to ad copy and back-office support. He also shares his views for other small newsrooms looking to experiment with AI. 

Scott is the founder and CEO of Local News Now, which owns and operates three hyperlocal news websites in the United States, covering the Northern Virginia region. A former TV news writer and producer, Scott was also a founding board member of the Local Independent Online News Publishers (LION).

Tune in to hear about Scott’s early experiments with generative AI in his newsroom. 

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In the second part of this episode with Elite Truong, she shares her work leading AI products like Metrics for News and Source Matters at the American Press Institute for local newsrooms. 

She shares how AI can help local news and her advice for product managers looking to incorporate emerging tech, like generative AI.

Elite is the Vice President of Product Strategy at the American Press Institute. Formerly, she was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at The Washington Post. In the first part of the episode, she discussed her experience working on emerging technologies. 

Before joining The Post, Elite spent four years at Vox Media, three as the product manager for off-platform storytelling, primarily negotiating with tech platforms to create user experiences that benefited news consumers. She serves as the Board Secretary for the News Product Alliance and is on the advisory board for Democracy Day.

Tune in for the second part of this episode with Elite and hear about her current work at The American Press Institute. 

Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here.

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Elite Truong joins Nikita Roy to delve into her journey of leading AI products, first at The Washington Post and now at the American Press Institute, in a special two-part episode. 

In part one, Elite shares insights from her work on Heliograf, The Washington Post's robot reporter that debuted in 2016. She discusses the evolution of the product under her leadership and explores the potential of computer vision in assisting journalists, particularly when covering traumatic events. Join us for part two of this episode, where we discuss her current role at the American Press Institute and her perspective on the potential applications of generative AI in newsrooms.

Elite is the Vice President of Product Strategy at the American Press Institute, where she manages data products like Metrics for News and Source Matters that empower local newsrooms to make strategic decisions. Formerly, she was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at The Washington Post, where she led the newsroom R & D team to capture younger and more diverse audiences by creating projects driven by emerging technologies, including machine learning, artificial intelligence, 3D, and augmented reality. Before joining The Post, Elite spent four years at Vox Media, three as the product manager for off-platform storytelling, primarily negotiating with tech platforms to create user experiences that benefited news consumers.

She serves as the Board Secretary for the News Product Alliance and is on the advisory board for Democracy Day.

Don't miss out, as Elite recounts her initial experiences with AI product development at The Washington Post in this episode.

Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here.

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