Five questions about the future of media with Aslak Gottlieb - business manager of "Social Kritik", lecturer at the Southern University of Denmark and speaker for the World Association of News Publishers.
What are the most interesting use cases you experienced recently in your field of work and why?
"Within this field of education, use liberty and journalism I find headline generators to be a very basic solution to create alternative headlines to a news article. When you teach students about “angles” or the business model in journalism – which is pretty much “clickbait” – it is so illustrative to what you need as a user to be a critical news reader. It is important to realize that a headline formulated in a certain way is just one prism to see the world through."
Which changes -by the influence of artificial intelligence - could you identify in your field of work?
"In class I am using generative AI to e.g. exemplary illustrate angles. Since AI is already influencing journalism within the field of generating content, I find it important to also teach the students about how to work with AI in a practical and valuable way. In Denmark I know of a case where employees have been dismissed due to automization of layouts done by artificial intelligence."
How big of an impact do you think will the influence of artificial intelligence have in your field of work and what are the characteristics?
"I think what is crucial for the industry is to identify what values we cannot let go of. I don’t see anyone in the industry who has a clear answer like “hey this is where Ai is going to lead us.” When VR came we used to think damn this is really going to change the news industry. As until now I don’t see a lot of VR news. It wasn’t as game changing as people predicted. I think it’s more likely to change the way we work in the news industry. To capture the surroundings and to the experiences you make with your environment, I don’t think the AI is going to be able to capture that yet. Through AI we save time and can actually use that time better to focus on the core values that we don’t want to let go off."
What development in your industry would you wish for? How could technological innovation/ artificial intelligence contribute?
"I’d wish for the authorative media to embrace transparency - because the news media is still considered by gen z as the authorative. I believe this would be key to regain trust in news media. I’ve never seen this used yet in media companies, but e.g. showing your readers alternative titles to a news article would open the mind of the readers. And instead of your readers being angry because they were clickbaited you would probably see them engage and come back and contribute and start an ecosystem with your users. I think the communication within media is too one-sided and I think that’s why journalism is losing to tech giants and social media. Because they are not listening. You need to find a way to engage and listen. Democratize journalism. Spark creativity in a way where you – educate the users to be more news literate, and through this influence the users demand for quality news – If the users are fine with crap news, we might as well stop teaching journalism."
What are eventual risks and/or threats that you see that come with the technological development?
"We would have less typos" laughs "Generally I think the quality of a news product will be a lot better - just as your magazine - because you are able to refine it. You can work much faster and much smarter. Design semantics and texts overall will be better. Furthermore a lot of the traffic for news media right now is gained through search engines. A search engine is boring stuff - but chatting with an AI is actually quite amusing and entertaining. So the threat that I am seeing for the established news media is the business model of media consumption through AI chatbots. It puts pressure on the media companies to be creative with how they are coping with that. On the visual side I am looking forward to the news rooms opening up to all that extra creativity. So I am both pessimistic and optimistic. But rather optimistic in the sense that overall quality of media is going to improve."
Aslak is a former schoolteacher and father of four, with a deep passion for storytelling, identity, and education. He writes feature articles on education for Denmark's oldest journal, “Grundtvigsk Tidende”, and develops digital learning concepts for “Aktiedysten”. As a board member of “FC Helsingør”, he works on strategic communication to turn the club around. Additionally, he chairs Elsinore 2032, aiming to secure the European Capital of Culture title for “Helsingør”. He is also the business manager for “Social Kritik” and serves on various boards and committees – inter alia the World Association of News Publishers.
This interview is part of PANTA Experts where we interview diverse experts in the media industry and beyond. Interviewer: Jan Kersling (PANTA RHAI).
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