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. Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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: Meet TorontoBot: Torontoverse’s AI-powered municipal budget analystTry out TorontoBotHow Torontoverse built their AI-powered newsletterThoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 StarSeeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed by James C. ScottData Feminism by Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren KleinThoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Thoughts or questions? You can reach us here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.