In this issue: The AI hype cycle hits a new phase—real debates replace Terminator fantasies. Alba Mora Roca on why being polyamorous with AI models matters for Global South journalism. Plus: ONA highlights.

What we’re talking about: Finally, a real debate. The fantasies of world-destroying super-intelligence and the same old Terminator images seem to be behind us—the initial shock is over. Many media outlets are now engaging in serious discussions about AI’s power and consequences.

This includes creating formats and spaces for these conversations. I’m excited about the growing scene, whether from institutions or Substack writers. Just three examples from recent days:

The Atlantic launches AI Watchdog, an ongoing investigation to open machine learning’s black box. Shakeel Hashim‘s Transformer, a newsletter on the power and politics of transformative AI, turns one and adds editors. And Reuters Silicon Valley reporter Krystal Hu starts her newsletter, Artificial Intelligencer.

Now, is all of this overwhelming and sometimes confusing? Absolutely. But I’m here to help, once a week, you get a small selection of important AI and journalism links and topics, plus perspectives from people who know much more about this than I do. Like Alba Mora Roca in this issue. Welcome to THEFUTURE!

What else I’ve been reading:

AI & Journalism Links

A year ago, custom GPTs were the thing. Fast forward to today… and it almost feels vintage. But here’s the truth: many of us use custom AI agents in the newsroom, they are real and USEFUL. (Alba Mora Roca, LinkedIn)

Süddeutsche Zeitung’s design team spent considerable effort creating a style guide for marking AI content—complete with sparkle icons and purple gradients. (Medium)

Former Wondery exec Jeanine Wright launches Inception Point AI, flooding the zone with 5,000 AI-generated podcasts at $1 per episode. Her take: calling AI content “slop” makes you a “lazy luddite.” Sure. When your business model requires only 50 listeners per episode to turn a profit, maybe the bar isn’t exactly set at Pulitzer Prize level. (Caitlin Huston, Hollywood Reporter)

I Hate My Friend: The chatbot-enabled Friend necklace eavesdrops on your life and provides a running commentary that’s snarky and unhelpful. Worse, it can also make the people around you uneasy. (Kylie Robison, Wired)

How thousands of ‘overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI to seem smart: Contracted AI raters describe grueling deadlines, poor pay and opacity around work to make chatbots intelligent. (Varsha Bansal, The Guardian)

And now: A call to action by AJ+’s Alba Mora Roca. She has shaped digital strategy at El País América, built multimedia projects at the Associated Press, and now explores the future of multilingual journalism through AI.

Three Questions with Alba Mora Roca

Alba Mora Roca

Alba Mora Roca is Executive Producer at AJ+, where she leads a 28-person team producing social video that centers the Global South.

What’s the most important question right now?

How do we move from AI hype to AI literacy? I learn by building. AI literacy means flexing your critical-thinking muscle. At AJ+, we’re using multiple LLMs for research on our YouTube show “Historia vs Historia” because challenging colonial narratives requires diverse perspectives. Here’s what we discovered: DeepSeek surfaces Global South academics while ChatGPT defaults to Western white authors. Each model carries ideology.

That’s why I’m polyamorous with AI models. Critical thinking means understanding these tools aren’t neutral—they’re worldviews wrapped in algorithms.

What do you wish you had known a year ago?

Stop reading about AI. Start building with it.

Experimentation beats watching endless demos and reading articles. There’s a lot of marketing, you only realize what works when you try things yourself.

But let’s be real, this is a privilege. While I’m tinkering with new tools and design workflows, AJ+ teams cover Gaza’s ongoing genocide. Most of our journalists are crushed by the demands of a hungry algorithm and a fast-paced news cycle. The emotional toll and the vicarious trauma of being exposed to murdered children every day is very real.

AI experimentation requires upfront time investment (even if it is only on a personal level usage): data collection, prompt engineering… Not everyone has that luxury while running a newsroom.

What's capturing your attention?

AI’s potential to shape a new video grammar.

I’ve spent 10 years doing social video at AJ+—I’m an algorithm survivor watching platforms systematically deprioritize social justice journalism because it doesn’t sell ads.

Video is a language with distinct genres, like music. Social video has its own syntax—3-second opening hooks, on-screen text, 9:16 aspect ratios—completely different from documentary films or TV news. Think McLuhan: “the medium is the message.” With GenAI creating a new distribution medium that processes our content, visual journalism must “speak” differently. What are the first principles of video journalism in an AI world?

This feels like 2006 when I started experimenting with video on the internet. Back then, I thought interactivity was the first principle—that’s why I learned HTML, Flash, and PHP. It opened up interactive storytelling as a new genre to explore. It’s been amazing to see how digital video has evolved and changed (who knew back then that short vertical video and podcasts would rule our feeds?).

I still learn by making. Here’s what we’re building at AJ+ right now: a Premiere Pro plugin that reduces multilingual adaptation from hours to minutes while keeping editors in control. We’re also experimenting with AI motion graphics for breaking news and in-camera visual effects using generative AI during production—capturing immersive visuals in real-time rather than fixing them in post. I am watching AI-powered animation with curiosity because it stretches the language of video. The question I keep asking is simple: how will visual journalism “speak” inside AI-mediated environments?

Previously: Radical change with Rignam Wangkhang. New audience expectations with Tess Jeffers. And the erosion of news aggregation with Andrew Deck.

Three reasons why ONA is great: The Online News Association held its annual conference in New Orleans. I confessed to Alba Mora Roca that I had major FOMO and asked if she could help, even if it’s just a few links. And she took the time and sent this:

Diversity isn’t just a buzzword: It’s a rare, eclectic, truly global conference where you witness women of color thrive in leadership positions (Niketa Patel as the CEO, Charo Henríquez leading the board) and features people you do not normally hear about. There’s immense richness in that. It also means you meet people working across a myriad of roles and organizations. You meet data journos chatting with photojournalists, audience strategists learning from nonprofit founders. The unexpected conversations are where the gold is. I left with an impact tracker from a nonprofit peer and GitHub repo with code from the The Lenfest AI Fellows, neither of whom work in my lane day to day, yet both immediately useful.

Human connection is the new premium: The in-person magic happens everywhere at ONA—over oysters, during jazz improv concerts, in unexpected TableTalk conversations. Communities like JSK Fellows, the Women’s Leadership Accelerator, and News Futures create meaningful connections that go beyond typical card exchanges. This is where you find your tribe. “Give them flowers. Recognize those who lift you up,” says Robert Hernandez, emphasizing that no one rises alone. That’s why people keep coming back every year.

You don’t need to be big to make a big difference: Documented, El Cafecito, and El Tímpano prove how tight crews out-innovate through focus and community trust. ONA featured them in the opening presentation because they punch way above their weight class. Their creative resilience under political pressure shows what’s possible when journalism serves community first.

Not sure if this eases my FOMO, but it’s a great takeaway. Thank you, Alba!

You’ve got mail: I’ve sent 20 of these newsletters so far. And while I post on LinkedIn, I try not to be beholden to the whims of one platform. In addition to sending emails, I’m blogging like it’s 2010. And over the summer, I did a series of post, calling it my Summer of AI. These are the Top 5 in order of visits to the website:

What about access by crawlers and chatbots, you ask? They are there, hidden in the logfiles. I see referrals from ChatGPT. But other than that, I’m not collecting much data, shortening IP addresses and deleting files every week. But we’ll crunch the numbers another time.

This is THEFUTURE.