The Media Copilot

Quick question: How do you know it’s really me in this podcast video? After all, with AI services like Synthesia and ElevenLabs ready to clone my likeness and voice in mere minutes, it’s more than a possibility these days. Besides obvious artifacts you might see in an AI-generated video, there’s the concept of content provenance, which in practice means a set of technical standards that imagery must adhere to so it can include metadata — nonvisible information that reveals whether an image was created by AI or not — and what modifications there were before it hit your eyeballs. The thing is, for content provenance to work, you need everyone in the chain — from camera to website — to pay attention to it. So it turns out infrastructure plays a big role, and that’s what I wanted to to talk to Livepeer CEO Doug Petkanics about on The Media Copilot podcast. Livepeer is a decentralized video platfom, which has an ace up its sleeve with respect to content provenance: the blockchain. By using the same tech that powers cryptocurrencies, Livepeer aims to create a cost-effective, scalable, and reliable way to both process video and label it properly. Its new AI subnet means the network now supports AI-generated content, including tools like OpenAI's video generator, Sora. Doug and I explored the critical issue of content authenticity in the age of AI. As deepfakes and AI-generated media become more prevalent, this is obviously a growing challenge. Doug explained how Livepeer's blockchain tech can help maintain a healthy media ecosystem by providing verifiable “attestations” of content creation and modification, helping ensure that audiences can trust the what they’re looking at. The Media Copilot is a podcast and newsletter that explores how generative AI is changing media, journalism, and the news. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to The Media Copilot newsletter.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Explore our courses⁠⁠⁠⁠ on how to use AI tools, tailored for media, marketers, PR professionals, and other content creators. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on X.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the podcast on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Other podcast apps⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Favorite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License © AnyWho Media 2024

Journalists are naturally skeptical people. They look critically at new things, especially when the incentives around them are complex, and that's certainly the case with AI. Given the early missteps of some sites publishing AI content and the existential threat the technology poses to distribution, it's only natural that a stigma around using AI has emerged among many reporters. That stigma is something Josh Brandau is wearing down, one newsroom at a time. Josh is the co-founder of Nota, a content platform for augmenting newsrooms with AI tools. I spoke to Josh for The Media Copilot podcast about the company and how it's grown since its launch in the summer of 2022 — well before ChatGPT and generative AI exploded into the mainstream. Josh and I discussed how Nota is helping newsrooms, especially small to midsize ones, giving them easy ways to leverage AI to create content more efficiently across multiple formats. But we also talked about how transformative AI is going to be, both for how journalists do their work and the industry as a whole. With everything happening with Google’s AI Search and ChatGPT’s new ability to really talk to you, that discussion is definitely more urgent than ever. If you enjoy this conversation, I’d encourage you to follow the show on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast app, really. Also, we’d appreciate it if you’d leave a rating or review — it really does help the show. And if you’re on YouTube, please like the video and subscribe to the channel. The Media Copilot is a podcast and newsletter that explores how generative AI is changing media, journalism, and the news. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to The Media Copilot newsletter.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Explore our courses⁠⁠⁠ on how to use AI tools, tailored for media, marketers, PR professionals, and other content creators. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on X.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the podcast on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Other podcast apps⁠⁠⁠ Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Favorite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License © AnyWho Media 2024

In the latest episode of The Media Copilot podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Jon Gillham, founder of Originality.ai, about the nuanced world of AI-generated content and its detection. Jon's company started from a simple need in his content marketing business: ensuring that content was authentically created by humans, not AI. As AI sophistication has grown, so has the necessity for robust detection tools. The field of AI detection is more complicated than you might think. Jon points out that while not all AI content is spam, almost all spam is now AI-generated. That leads us to an unpacking of Google’s dilemma — that targeting AI-generated content in search results might result a better experience for customers but its position as a major LLM developer inherently conflicts with that goal. Nonetheless, AI detection tools are essential for publishers trying to navigate the new digital landscape without compromising their search rankings or credibility. We also talk about the importance of transparency and authorship as AI becomes more ingrained in digital content creation. Projecting forward, you can begin to see a “hybrid” future where AI aids content creation under stringent guidelines to ensure quality and authenticity, and that’s OK! I’m really happy with how the conversation goes deep on the complexities and realities of having AI “out in the wild” in our information ecosystem, and how the interplay between AI technologies and content creators has evolved — and will continue to evolve. If you enjoy this conversation, I’d encourage you to follow the show on Substack, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast app, really. Also, we’d appreciate it if you’d leave a rating or review — it really does help the show. And if you’re on YouTube, please like the video and subscribe to the channel. The Media Copilot is a podcast and newsletter that explores how generative AI is changing media, journalism, and the news. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the newsletter.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Explore our courses⁠⁠ on how to use AI tools, tailored for media, marketers, PR professionals, and other content creators. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on X.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the podcast on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Other podcast apps⁠⁠ Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Favorite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License © AnyWho Media 2024

Media expert Ricky Sutton discusses AI's impact on the media landscape, including the transformation of news creation, distribution, and monetization. He explores the necessity for media brands to adapt to AI technologies to stay relevant in the evolving industry and shares insights on navigating the AI revolution in media.

This week on The Media Copilot podcast I’m thrilled to talk to Alex Fink. Alex is the founder and CEO of Otherweb, a news aggregator that uses AI to give readers a healthier news diet than your average social media feed. Instead of optimizing for outrage or clickbait, Otherweb favors “kale over cake” — an analogy we come back to a few times in the conversation. Alex has an interesting career. After working for a long time in computer vision, he decided the world had enough cameras and decided to focus instead on the decisions technology could help with rather than the tech itself. Otherweb isn’t his first rodeo — he’s been a founder twice before and a very astute observer of the media business. He’s full of great observations about the arguably corrupted incentives of ad-based media, which helps to guide Otherweb and the way it ranks and serves up content. You can check out Otherweb here: https://otherweb.com/ The Media Copilot is a podcast and newsletter that explores how generative AI is changing media, journalism, and the news. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the newsletter.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Explore our courses⁠ on how to use AI tools, tailored for media, marketers, PR professionals, and other content creators. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow us on X.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the podcast on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠Other podcast apps⁠ Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Favorite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License © AnyWho Media 2024

Yes, we know generative AI is bad for writing articles whole-cloth. But what IS it good for when you want to apply AI in a newsroom? In this week's episode of The Media Copilot podcast, host Pete Pachal explores that question Joe Amditis, Associate Director of Operations at the Center for Cooperative Media. As part of his role, Joe researches how journalists can apply generative AI, both at the individual and organization levels, and has written guides on publicly available tools, including the how to create custom GPTs for reporting use cases. Joe's advice to those new to using AI for journalism? Experiment. Journalists need to use AI to understand its capabilities and limitations, and should focus on low-stakes tasks initially. Once they're comfortable, some of the most useful applications he's found are: Documentation and transcription Brainstorming ideas on why people should care about a story Filtering through data and documents to surface potential leads Generating stock images and graphics to accompany articles The key takeaway: Use AI tools pragmatically to gain efficiency in workflows, but do not lose sight of the human element and relationships at the core of journalism. As long as journalists don't lose sight of creating quality, valuable content for their communities, they'll be able to find ways AI can help move faster toward that goal. The Media Copilot is a podcast and newsletter that explores how generative AI is changing media, journalism, and the news. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the newsletter.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow on X.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the podcast on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Favorite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License © AnyWho Media 2024

What's it like to come face-to-face with your own deepfake? Anne-Marie Tomchak knows, and the encounter is captured vividly in her documentary Game Changer: AI and You, which aired recently on Ireland's public broadcaster. It's a powerful moment, and one I would argue every journalist covering AI should experience: the unnerving feeling of seeing your own image and voice co-opted to say or do anything that the programmer desires. It's one thing to hear about a celebrity like Taylor Swift being deepfaked; it's quite another to have it done to you personally. And with the technology becoming so accessible, that becomes a greater possibility every day. On this week's episode of The Media Copilot podcast, Anne-Marie shared the insights she gained by working on the documentary (her second on the subject of AI), zeroing in on AI's growing influence in journalism. We discussed how AI is reshaping the media landscape, from newsroom operations to content creation, and the ethical and legal conundrums emerging from AI-generated content. As the founder of BBC's social media investigative unit, Anne-Marie talks about how this technological shift is different from digital media shakeups of the past. If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe on your favorite platform, check out our channel on YouTube, and leave a review or a star rating. It really does help the show, and it'll ensure we keep bringing you great conversations like this one. The Media Copilot is a podcast and newsletter that explores how generative AI is changing media, journalism, and the news. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the newsletter.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow on X.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the podcast on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Favorite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License © AnyWho Media 2024

Doing journalism with AI? What even is that? Up until recently, the answer to that question was a small part of the profession, mostly restricted to big publications with deep pockets and a sophisticated data strategy (think: The Washington Post or the AP). But after ChatGPT said hello to the world a year and a half ago, however, "AI-powered news" was suddenly a blank canvas. After the world saw the disastrous results of using the content produced by generative AI without a robust process surrounding the creating, vetting, and publishing of that content, the media world went back to the drawing board: What is this "magical" new technology good for, and what does a newsroom need to do to use it safely and ethically? David Caswell spends most of his days thinking about exactly that. David has been working with machine learning and AI in media for well over a decade, leading product teams at the BBC, Tribune Publishing, and Yahoo. He's now a consultant and researcher focused on AI in newsrooms, and he wrote arguably the definitive guide on the subject last fall in his article "AI and News: What's Next?" This week David joins The Media Copilot podcast to talk about everything that's happened since his article dropped, and how his thinking about AI's role in our media ecosystem has changed. We also explore what he hopes to see come out of The New York Times lawsuit against OpenAI, how reporters should be leveraging generative tools, and why journalists are naturally good prompt engineers. If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe on your favorite platform and leave a review or a star rating. It really does help the show, and it'll ensure we keep bringing you great conversations like this one. The Media Copilot is a podcast and newsletter that explores how generative AI is changing media, journalism, and the news. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the newsletter.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow on X.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the podcast on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Favorite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License © AnyWho Media 2024

What happens when you teach your AI to churn out believable fictional characters? AImmersive co-founders Max Salamonowicz and Casey McBeath have built a tool for writers and creatives who want to create realistic video game and fiction characters. The tool they've created isn't just a simple character generator. It's an advanced AI system designed to produce believable, complex characters with unique personalities, backstories, and traits. Salamonowicz and McBeath spoke to John Biggs for The Media Copilot podcast. Their insights offer a glimpse into the merging of technology and creativity, and how generative AI is poised to redefine the landscape of narrative arts. The Media Copilot is a podcast and newsletter that explores how generative AI is changing media, journalism, and the news. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the newsletter.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow on X.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the podcast on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Favorite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License © AnyWho Media 2024

Copyright is one of the biggest issues in AI. Eric Wengrowski, the CEO of Steg.AI explains how digital watermarking can help. It's fair to say the subject of copyright comes up a lot when you're talking about AI. Whether you're talking about a large language model (LLM) like the ones that power ChatGPT, or diffusion models that serve text-to-image creators like Midjourney, these generative systems suck up massive amounts of training data from the open web. This has concerned many content creators and publishers, including The New York Times, which brought its concerns to the courts in late December. While the world waits for the law to catch up to the AI industry, the question remains: can authors, photographers, videographers and anyone else in the business of creating content do anything to ensure they stay connected and in control of the things they create? There might be. What all these issues are circling is the concept of content provenance: ensuring the copyright holder of any piece of content is embedded within the content itself. One way to do that through digital watermarking — essentially creating an "Invisible QR code" that travels with the document, image, or video, even if it's copied and stripped of metadata. Steg.AI is a company that specializes in digital watermarking, and The Media Copilot spoke with its CEO, Eric Wengrowski in our latest podcast. We fully explored the role of watermarking in a world where all kinds of web crawlers are constantly hoovering up data, why it's important to label synthetic content, and the incredibly important question of: can you still detect the watermark of a piece of training data in model output? The Media Copilot is a podcast and newsletter that explores how generative AI is changing media, journalism, and the news. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the newsletter.⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow on X.⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the podcast on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠ Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Favorite⁠⁠⁠⁠ by Alexander Nakarada, licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License © AnyWho Media 2024