AI in Media: Savior or Just Shiny New Chains?
Alright, lemme get this straight. AI is now the "connective tissue" of news orgs? Give me a freakin' break.
The AI Hype Train is Leaving the Station (Again)
So, I'm reading about this "Indigo Trigger Lead-to-Cash Bash" (catchy name, I know), and apparently, AI was all the rage. Hearst, Data Axle, the whole shebang – they’re all chugging the AI Kool-Aid. Claims of "measurable gains," "smarter sales," and AI agents doing the work of entire teams? Sounds like the same old song and dance, just with a new set of buzzwords. You can read more about the event in AI takes center stage at Indigo Trigger’s Lead-to-Cash Bash, Signaling a New Era for Media.
Hearst is “rebuilding its sales infrastructure around AI." Okay, but what does that actually mean? Are they replacing journalists with bots? Are they just trying to sell more ads with fancier algorithms? They expect us to believe this nonsense, and honestly...
This Katerina "Kat" White chick from Hearst says, "everything comes back to confidence." What that really means is: "We're throwing AI at the wall and hoping something sticks, but we need our sales team to believe it's working so they don't jump ship."
And Site Impact and Data Axle are boasting about "precision marketing" with AI. Email, a "legacy channel," is now a freakin' "precision marketing engine?" Seriously? It's still email, people. It's still spam, just smarter spam.
The Robot Revolution (or Just a Software Update?)
Then there's the whole "AI agents taking over operational tasks" angle. The Star Tribune is apparently going to "do more in a month than we used to do in a year" thanks to AI. That's great, but are they going to do better work? Are they going to produce quality journalism, or just churn out clickbait faster?
Cox Media Group “reclaimed 20% of staff time." Cool, so they fired 20% of their staff, right? Let's be real: that's what "efficiency gains" always mean.
And this Paul Deraval dude from NinjaCat demoed an AI agent named "Negative Nancy" that fixes Google Ads. Hilarious. And terrifying. He even said, "The future LinkedIn profile of top sellers will highlight the AI agents they’ve built and deployed.” So, we're all gonna be replaced by robots we built ourselves? What a world.
Offcourse, AI copilots are now doing everything from lead scoring to ADA compliance. It's all sunshine and rainbows, right? Except, there's always a catch. The Seattle Times is using Scribe to capture workflows and reduce intimidation around AI adoption. Intimidation? What, are people scared the robots are gonna steal their lunch money?
And the Star Tribune has "Virtual Brian," an AI agent trained on internal knowledge. They even have a "Is this correct?" verification loop. But wait, are we really supposed to believe that this thing ain't gonna hallucinate facts or spit out some corporate propaganda?
You still need human review. Always. But who's reviewing the reviewers?
Tangent: I'm starting to think my landlord is using an AI to write passive-aggressive notes about my trash disposal habits. "Please ensure all refuse is contained within the provided receptacles." Yeah, thanks, HAL 9000.
The Bottom Line (or Lack Thereof)
SMS reactivations and smarter payments are now "core reader-revenue functions." Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) campaigns are expanding audience-extension revenue. It's all about the money, ain't it?
AI is enabling:
* Faster workflows
* Better decisions
* Higher profitability
* Lower operational risk
* More confident, capable teams
Yeah, and faster profits for the shareholders, while the rest of us get the shaft.
Indigo Trigger's Lead-to-Cash Bash showcased a "new operating model." A new operating model where news organizations that embrace AI will outpace those that hesitate. So, it's adapt or die? Sounds about right.
Just Another Way to Screw the Little Guy
Look, I'm not saying AI is inherently evil. But let's not pretend it's some kind of magical savior for the media industry. It's just another tool, and like any tool, it can be used for good or evil. And let's be real, corporations are really good at using tools to screw over the little guy.
