Dylan Byers of Puck interviewed Ian Krietzberg about how artificial intelligence is impacting business journalism in the wake of disclosures about how Fortune and tech reporters are using the tool.
Here is an excerpt:
Dylan: Is Nick Lichtenberg the future of journalism? In other words, are we still in the “power tool” phase, where A.I. is essentially a productivity enhancer, or are we already staring down the barrel of a full-stack disruption of reporting and writing, itself?
Ian: It sort of depends on the business model. For the top writers, we’re nowhere near the point where the content is better. The Lichtenberg approach is much more radical than how tech journalists like Alex Heath and Casey Newton are reportedly using A.I. to help with transcriptions, research, and even drafting copy—you know, the standard-ish optimizations. For media companies that rely on traffic—clicks and page views, etcetera—there will be a real temptation, maybe even a business necessity, to optimize for higher revenue and lower costs. After all, A.I. is almost the perfect tool to feed that impulse for more, faster, cheaper, and hookier content. I don’t think it’s crazy to imagine a world where A.I. incentivizes some startups or diminished legacy brands to take another shot at the content-farm model, even if it depletes user trust.
Dylan: So is the real story here about individual journalists experimenting with A.I. to give themselves more leverage, or institutions quietly redesigning their workflows to lower costs?
Ian: It is absolutely the latter. Heath’s approach to his work—as detailed in that Wired piece—may surprise people. He noted that he begins writing, for instance, by dictating his story into Claude. But Heath is making a judgment call, and he has a ton of credibility and a remarkable track record to back it up. The process works for him, and his audience doesn’t seem to mind if his work is A.I.-supported. Most importantly, it’s great that it’s his choice to make. Good journalism isn’t cheap or easy, which is one of the reasons the industry is in trouble. Maybe there’s a reason to be optimistic that A.I. can help lower some of the back-office costs—admin, legal, marketing, web services, etcetera—and allow small businesses and operators to focus more on the journalism itself.
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