How much of our news is AI-generated right now and how might that change? With more and more misinformation posing as news, how can we sort out fact from fiction? And, in the face of falling revenue, can AI help save the news industry?

Robert Quigley is a professor of practice in UT Austin’s Moody College of Communications where he teaches digital journalism and podcasting. As the director of media innovation for the college, he focuses on artificial intelligence and journalism. He leads a group of educators from across campus who share best practices for AI in the classroom. He’s a co-host of Check Out This Podcast, a show that helps you discover your next favorite podcast. He led a project where students used AI to generate news stories, called The Future Press.

Dig Deeper

Wyoming reporter caught using artificial intelligence to create fake quotes and stories, Associated Press (Aug. 2024)

Redefining news with AI, Moody College of Communications at UT Austin (Jan. 2024)

How an AI-written Star Wars story created chaos at Gizmodo, Washington Post (July 2023)

How Will Artificial Intelligence Change the News Business?, The Intelligencer (Aug. 2023)

Google is testing an AI tool that can write news articles, TechCrunch (July 2023)

Can AI help local newsrooms streamline their newsletters? ARLnow tests the waters, Nieman Lab (May 2023)

Episode Credits

Our co-hosts are Marc Airhart, science writer and podcaster in the College of Natural Sciences and Casey Boyle, associate professor of rhetoric and director of UT’s Digital Writing & Research Lab.

Executive producers are Christine Sinatra and Dan Oppenheimer. 

Sound design and audio editing by Robert Scaramuccia. Theme music is by Aiolos Rue. Interviews are recorded at the Liberal Arts ITS recording studio.

Elements of the cover image for this episode were generated using Midjourney and Photoshop’s generative AI tools.

About AI for the Rest of Us

AI for the Rest of Us is a joint production of The University of Texas at Austin’s College of Natural Sciences and College of Liberal Arts. This podcast is part of the University’s Year of AI initiative. The opinions expressed in this podcast represent the views of the hosts and guests, and not of The University of Texas at Austin. You can listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Podcasts, RSS, or anywhere you get your podcasts. You can also listen on the web at aifortherest.net. Have questions or comments? Contact: mairhart[AT]austin.utexas.edu