In the recent AI and Journalism podcast, host Yumi Wilson interviewed Pete Paschal, founder of Media CoPilot. Pete, a tech journalist with experience at Mashable and PC Mag, discusses AI’s impact on the industry and emphasizes the importance of using AI as a supportive tool for journalists. The conversation covers ethical considerations, potential antitrust impacts, and future predictions for journalism in the age of AI. Pete also recommends AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Opus Clip for journalists.

Key Moments:

  1. 0:06:26 Pete discusses his experience at CoinDesk and how it shaped his understanding of AI’s impact on media. He describes how the company explored the use of AI, particularly in the wake of the FTX scandal, and developed internal guidelines and use cases for the technology.
  2. 0:14:48 Pete explains how the definition of journalism may not change, but the skills and expectations around it will. He emphasizes the importance of journalists developing AI skills and using the technology as a tool to enhance their work, rather than as a replacement for human judgment and creativity.
  3. 0:30:32 Pete predicts how Google’s antitrust battles could impact the media industry. He suggests that the potential split of the company could lead to a more balanced power dynamic between media companies and tech giants, potentially increasing the value of media content and the democratization of AI technology.

Best Quotes:

  1. “AI can’t do that. What AI is really good at, though, is what I would declassify as aggregation.”
  2. “Just because an AI can do something in most cases, it doesn’t necessarily mean it should in all cases.”
  3. “The age of aggregation can start to be more and more offloaded to machines, and then reporters are then tasked with and challenged to go out and do real reporting.”

Resources Mentioned:

  • Semaphore/) – A platform that helps reporters find information on their beats worldwide.
  • Yes, CEO/) – An app that creates AI-generated headlines and descriptions for articles.
  • Perplexity/) – An AI-powered search engine that shares revenue with publishers.
  • Legitimate/) – A platform that provides verified profiles for journalists and AI tools for their work.
  • Otter/) – A transcription tool with AI features.
  • Rolly/) – A database of expert sources for journalists.
  • Opus Clip/) – A tool that creates clips of the most interesting parts of a podcast.

Learn More About Pete:

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