Every day now there’s so much more talk about AI. It feels like we’ve been given an ultimatum that we need to start learning how to use AI or we’ll be left behind. Certainly that’s how it seems, and certainly this technology isn’t going away.
If you count Otter transcription service, I’ve been using AI for a few years now for both journalism and PR work. As another journalist put it the other day, this has made some work with bad rates do-able because it’s fairly good although you still need to check Otter. I won’t lie, this comes down to one thing only and that’s cost. I’ve often thought that I should be giving this work to a human if they were as affordable.
I feel the same way about graphics. I feel sorry for people doing graphic design as well as transcription because if writers think it’s taking some of their work away, it can’t be anything compared to these professions. Although I don’t think AI is even that great at this. A few weeks ago I was trying to adapt a Jimmy Fallon show logo (as you do) and it wouldn’t even follow the instructions and I asked it a fair few times. Eventually, I gave it to my graphic designer, Joni Tuson, who I’ve been working with for a while and she fixed it up.
An interesting observation with AI - I’ve mainly used Chat GPT, Claude and Gemini - is that it wants to change any image of me the moment I give it something. Normally to make me more feminine. Even when I don’t ask for it.
While I think AI can help us be more efficient with some things and it may be a bit of harmless fun, there’s a lot it can’t do and a lot I’m not using it for. It might be okay for summarising large chunks of information, but I still fact check everything. I’d never use it to write a journalism story. It doesn’t have a sense of humour, it can't do tone very well, it can’t physically go to an interview and set the scene of a story for us and it’s not very good at colour.
I don’t think it’s very good at finding media contacts, either. I’ve been testing it out on this. In the past, I’ve used their media contact database software. To be honest it wasn’t even up to date and these contacts were found manually so how good can AI be at this, I wonder? While experimenting with it in the past couple of weeks and asking it for me to find media contacts, I’ve caught it out.
I have used it recently to write a couple of proposals for some work and even though it was probably quicker (I’m not a table or spreadsheet person) I still had to make some changes afterwards.
The reality is that even as much as humans are imperfect at times, AI doesn’t have testimonials saying that it’s “fearless” with a “can-do attitude” (it wasn’t curious enough to move to Africa). Or “funny”. Or that it dug deeper to get the information. I do.
There’s so much talk in this day and age about authenticity, it was a big buzzword when Zohran Mamdani was elected as New York mayor last year. People appreciate people who are real. This was described as being key to his win.
Recently, I’ve been sending out email pitches to editors - and getting a response. From top-tier publications even if they’re saying no to the story. I don’t think that would be happening if I was using impersonal pitches created by AI.
I’m starting my webinars on landing media coverage and writing op-eds soon, if any one would like to learn from a widely-published journalist and media consultant who has reported from five continents. My coverage for clients includes placements with AP and AFP (pieces syndicated with Washington Post and ABC news in the US), Guardian US, Telegraph UK, Al Jazeera, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Globe and Mail, Mongabay, SBS, AAP, CBC, IOL, The Continent, Mail & Guardian, Moneyweb, EURACTIV, and many more.
If you want more details see https://www.amyfallon.com/workshops/ and drop me a line via [email protected].
You would’ve noticed by now that I’ve excitedly moved to Beehiv!
Oh and if you’ve read to the end, excitedly I’ve just been in the Sydney Morning Herald and Age in Australia today with this piece, which has done well (it was even up near the top of the Age masthead on the front page) but I’ll talk more about it in my next newsletter!