Newsroom Robots

Vilas Dhar, President of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, champions ethical AI for public good. He discusses the essential human element in journalism amidst AI advancements and presents his LISA framework for audience-centered AI design. Dhar raises critical questions about newsroom identity in the AI age, the importance of transparency, and balancing innovation with sustainability. He also emphasizes that human creativity and moral judgment are irreplaceable, urging newsrooms to embrace technology while prioritizing ethical practices.

Ludwig Siegele, Senior Editor for AI Initiatives at The Economist, dives into how the historic publication is navigating the AI revolution. He shares insights on launching the innovative AI Lab, designed to experiment with tools like AI-powered translation and TikTok video dubbing. Ludwig discusses overcoming initial fears in the newsroom and the challenges of integrating new technologies. He also predicts how automation could redefine journalism roles, emphasizing the need for quality control and reporting in an AI-driven future.

In Estonia, Delfi Meedia has built one of the strongest foundations for AI in journalism. With one of the highest digital subscription rates in the world, Delfi has moved beyond the buzz around AI to put it into everyday practice, supporting both its journalism and business.In this episode, host Nikita Roy is joined by Ivar Krustok, Chief AI & Innovation Officer at Delfi Meedia. Ivar breaks down how a small-market publisher is shipping AI that actually helps journalists: from live cross-language translation and newsroom bots to an in-house “company ChatGPT” toolkit wired into 25 years of archives and public records.Key topics include:•Delfi’s three-bucket AI strategy: everyday newsroom tools, experimental long-term projects, and company-wide literacy.•Why Delfi built its own “company ChatGPT” toolkit to search 25 years of archives.•How bots and agents are transforming dashboards into conversational tools for subscriptions, ads, and editorial performance.•Lessons from AI experiments, from court-case monitoring that surfaces hidden stories to audience-facing image generators.•The ongoing challenge of scaling AI literacy across hundreds of staff while keeping adoption practical and trust-centered.Sign up for the Newsroom Robots newsletter for episode summaries and insights from host Nikita Roy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a new academic year begins, journalism schools face a defining challenge: how to prepare students for a profession being reshaped by AI.At Stanford University, Djordje Padejski is leading the way. A veteran investigative journalist and now associate director of the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford, he created one of the earliest AI-focused journalism courses at Arizona State University before bringing it to Stanford last year. His classroom is less lecture hall and more lab, where students test AI tools and also learn to examine them.On Newsroom Robots, Djordje shared how he structures his course and what journalism schools must do to prepare the next generation of journalists.Key topics include:Why journalism education must move beyond teaching AI as just a tool and instead frame it as a socio-technical phenomenon.How to embed AI literacy in classrooms by separating hype from reality, contextualizing the history of AI, and examining its cultural and ethical limits.Practical strategies Djordje uses to structure his Stanford course, from lab-style experimentation to peer-led discussions that uncover both opportunities and pitfalls of tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and NotebookLM.The importance of teaching students not just how to use AI but how to critically assess its strengths, biases, and limitations.What a future journalism curriculum or degree built around AI might look like, and how educators across disciplines can prepare the next generation of reporters.Sign up for the Newsroom Robots newsletter for episode summaries and insights from host Nikita Roy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sara Beykpour, co-founder and CEO of Particle News, brings a wealth of experience from her decade at Twitter. She dives into how Particle utilizes a 'Reality Check' process to craft accurate AI-generated news summaries while maintaining reader trust. The conversation highlights the innovative bias meter that reflects the political leanings of stories and the importance of personalized news feeds that avoid filter bubbles. Beykpour also discusses the crucial role of transparency and collaboration with publishers in shaping the future of trustworthy journalism.

In this discussion, Florent Daudens, Press Lead at Hugging Face and former AI leader at Canada’s Radio-Canada, emphasizes the potential of open-source AI to revolutionize journalism. He explores how it can alleviate the constraints of proprietary models, enhance editorial control, and promote transparency. Daudens also shares insights on AI’s environmental impact and provides a toolkit of 20 essential open-source tools for journalists. Expect a deep dive into how flexible AI can reshape newsrooms for a more sustainable future!

In this engaging discussion, Gard Steiro, Editor-in-Chief and CEO of VG, emphasizes the need for open dialogue about AI's role in newsrooms. Naja Nielsen, Media Director at SVT, highlights the significance of empowering experimentation and organizational learning. Fabian Heckenberg from Süddeutsche Zeitung shares insights on forming interdisciplinary teams and tackling prioritization challenges in the face of legacy systems versus new AI tools. Together, they explore the transformative potential of AI in journalism while ensuring trust and relevance with audiences.

Gina Chua, Executive Editor of Semafor and former leader in global newsrooms, shares her insights on AI's transformative role in journalism. She discusses innovative AI tools like Miso that enhance storytelling and multilingual engagement. Gina emphasizes the need for journalists to adapt by asking the right questions and crafting narratives uniquely human. Challenges in integrating AI products in newsrooms, from unstable models to workflow resistance, are also examined, highlighting a pivotal moment for journalism's future.

Zach Seward, Editorial Director of AI Initiatives at The New York Times and co-founder of Quartz, discusses the innovative strides AI is making in journalism. He shares how his five-person AI team supports investigative work by analyzing massive data sets. The conversation highlights their in-house tool, Echo, which streamlines article transformation for reporters. Zach emphasizes the importance of trust and agency in the newsroom, as well as how AI enhances reader engagement and reshapes audience interactions with news.

Cheryl Phillips, founder of Big Local News at Stanford University, dives into how AI is transforming local journalism. She discusses the groundbreaking work her team is doing to unearth hidden stories, such as revealing Santa Clara County's contracts with ICE despite official denials. Cheryl highlights innovative tools like Agenda Watch for tracking public meeting agendas and DataTalk, which simplifies campaign finance analysis for reporters. Explore how these technologies bolster accountability journalism, empowering local newsrooms in a data-rich world.