Pete Pachal on How AI Will Change Journalism

In this episode of the AI and Journalism podcast, host Yumi Wilson interviews Pete Paschal, the founder of Media Co Pilot. Pete shares his extensive experience as a tech journalist, having worked at influential publications like Mashable and PC Mag. He discusses how his time at these organizations shaped his understanding of technology's role in society, particularly as it relates to AI. Pete explains how his work at CoinDesk, where he explored the use of AI in media, led him to launch Media Co Pilot, a platform dedicated to understanding AI's impact on the industry. He emphasizes the importance of using AI as an assistive technology for journalists, rather than a replacement for human judgment and creativity. The conversation covers a range of topics, including the ethical considerations around AI's use in media, the potential impact of antitrust cases on the industry, and predictions for the future of journalism in the age of artificial intelligence. Pete also provides recommendations for specific AI tools that can be beneficial for journalists, such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Opus Clip.

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 across the world.

• 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.