That’s the narrative.
It goes like this: There’s a group of powerful people in Silicon Valley who believe in effective altruism, want to live forever, and might be susceptible to fascism. They’re not only building AI but believe in a super-intelligence that will have no bias and all the answers. So why not get rid of judges, journalists, and while we’re at it, democracy itself?
At the International Journalism Festival in Perugia, this narrative took hold. It’s a bit more nuanced than that, well at least mostly, but you get the idea.
There were Natalia Antelava, Isobel C., and Christopher Wylie who talked about their podcast “Captured” with Julie Posetti.
There was Karen Hao who talked about her upcoming book, “Empire of AI.” She painted the picture of AI as a cloak for consolidation of power. The new tech empire takes resources that aren’t their own, under the guise of a civilization mission.
At the same time, there were lots of use cases and examples of AI in the newsroom, how it can help our mission to better serve our audiences. What works and what doesn’t.
How to evaluate and integrate was one of my highlights, thanks to Rubina Fillion, Tess Jeffers, Chris Moran, and Felix M. Simon.
And there were many more! Reuters Institute has an overview of overviews, and a lot of the talks are on YouTube.
The sessions are one thing, but the friends we make and meet in Perugia are another thing entirely.
(This post is also on LinkedIn)
