California’s protectionist legislation
I just submitted a letter opposing the so-called California Journalism Preservation Act that is now going through the Senate. Here’s what I said (I’ll skip the opening paragraph with my journalistic...
View ArticleA few unpopular opinions about AI
In a conversation with Jason Howell for his upcoming AI podcast on the TWiT network, I came to wonder whether ChatGPT and large language models might give all of artificial intelligence cultural...
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Copyright and AI and journalism
The US Copyright Office just put out a call for comment on copyright and artificial intelligence. It is a thoughtful document based on listening sessions already held, with thirty-four questions on...
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Moving on
I have news: I am leaving CUNY’s Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the end of this term. Technically I’m retiring, though if you know me you know I will never retire. I’m looking at some things...
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A generation later: What have we learned?
The date sneaked up on me this year, attacking from behind. Every year on 9/11 I reflect, grateful that I survived the attack. This year, though, I find myself angry. Some of that might be my own...
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Gibberish from the machine
I’m honored that Germany’s Stern asked me to write about AI and journalism for a 75th anniversary edition. Here’s a version prior to final editing and trimming for print and translation. And I learned...
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Artificial general bullshit
I began writing this as a report from a useful conference on AI that I just attended, where experts and representatives of concerned sectors of society had serious discussion about the risks,...
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A journalism of belief and belonging
I increasingly come to see that we are not in a crisis of information and disinformation or even of misguided beliefs, but instead of belonging. I wonder how to reimagine journalism to address this...
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Journalism and AI
Here are are my written remarks for a hearing on AI and the future of journalism for the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law, on January 10, 2024. I have been a...
View ArticleIn the echo chamber
Well, that was surreal. I testified in a hearing about AI and the future of journalism held by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law. Here is my written testimony and...
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Make Bell Labs an internet museum
I wrote an op-ed for NJ.com and the Star-Ledger in New Jersey proposing that the soon-empty Bell Labs should become a Museum and School of the Internet. Here, for those outside the Garden State, is...
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Is it time to give up on old news?
I am coming to a conclusion I have avoided for my last three decades working on the internet and news: It may finally be time to give up on old journalism and its legacy industry. I say this with no...
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Reflections in the ‘woke’ mirror
Regarding the supposed furor over #WokeGemini… If we saw generative AI as a creative tool, then I’d say imagining the founding of America with women & Black people at the table and the Catholic...
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AI in Reflection
There is so much to parse in this Times column inspired by a paper examining alleged political leanings of large language models. First, the myth of a “center” is imposed on the machine as it is on...
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Newspapers can be jerks
In my paper on the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA), I examine the history of newspapers’ hostile reception of new technologies and competitors, reaching back a century to the dawn of...
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The Times is broken
It gives me no satisfaction to say this — indeed it fills me with trepidation for the nation — but The Times is broken. I know some of you are thinking, “You only now realize this?” No, I’m only now...
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News bills: From bad to worse
I recently wrote an extensive analysis and criticism of a proposed California link tax, offering many alternatives. A state senator just proposed his own alternative — and it is even worse. Sen. Steve...
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Demote the doomsters
This paper in Science on “managing extreme AI risks amid rapid progress” with 25 co-authors (Harari?) is getting quick attention. The paper leans heavily toward the AI doom, warning of “an...
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This is no way to save the news
California legislators have amended a bill written by newspaper lobbyists — and made it worse. New York has enacted a law pushed by newspapers to give tax dollars to newspapers — excluding some...
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The new pyramid of discovery
I’ve just started using Perplexity’s Discover news application and have to say it is impressive, compiling multiple news reports on a topic and producing a well-organized summary and explanation,...
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