Journalism and AI Fusion: University Student Naomi Delkamiller’s Perspectives

Join us for this inspiring and insightful conversation with Naomi Delkamiller, a senior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Naomi recently navigated a pioneering course on AI and journalism, led by Professor Matthew Waite. This 16-week elective course helped her understand how AI is reshaping how stories are told and the challenges faced. The future of the press is being reimagined. 

Together, we explore Naomi's journey in understanding how AI is navigating storytelling, enhancing newsroom productivity, and what ethical considerations come into play. From experimental classroom projects to real-world applications, Naomi's insights will illuminate the future path for budding journalists. 

Naomi’s proactive approach to her education reflects her dedication and curiosity about staying ahead in the evolving landscape of journalism, a key component of the industry.

So, wherever you are on your journalism journey, stay tuned for an episode brimming with thought-provoking discussions and actionable takeaways. As always, if you like what you hear, hit that subscribe button!

Time stamps:

(03:53) AI is in our daily lives already.

(06:48) Key takeaways from a 16 week AI and Journalism college course

(13:01) Generation needs awareness of AI's good/bad uses.

(16:17) Experimenting, refining, and adjusting queries for better outcomes.

(19:34) AI limitations require realistic expectations and feasible requests.

(21:31) Experimenting with AI voice replication software.

Quotes:

"I see a lot of people passively talk about artificial intelligence or they mentioned kind of the buzzwords around it, Chat GPT, Microsoft, like those, those bigger buzzwords that I was just curious to kind of see what's behind that and can we go a little bit deeper and can I actually apply this?"

— Naomi Delkamiller [00:03:05 → 00:03:23]

"I think what's interesting to note is a lot of us had been using AI and we just didn't really realize it."

— Naomi Delkamiller [00:03:53 → 00:03:59]

"Honestly, we called a lot of small town newspapers in Nebraska just asking how they might see this applied to their own newsrooms. And we were met with a lot of, well, why would we do that? People trust us. They wouldn't read us if they knew that we were using artificial intelligence."

— Naomi Delkamiller [00:07:44 → 00:08:00]

"Sports Illustrated used AI to create fake Personas of writers. It just became obvious and people started calling it out and they noticed it. And I think that's where some mistrust really developed."

— Naomi Delkamiller [00:12:50 → 00:13:01]

"The more people that are aware of AI, the more people can identify the bad uses of AI."

— Naomi Delkamiller [00:13:13 → 00:13:19]

"I mean, obviously I don't think that anything should be published without human oversight. That's a thing I stand by, and I'm sure by the time I'm in the industry I will still stand by that."

— Naomi Delkamiller [00:15:48 → 00:15:49]

"I think it's really hard to get it right on the first try because you don't really know how it's [Chat GPT] going to take that information in."

— Naomi Delkamiller [00:16:17 → 00:17:00]

"Like any piece of technology, there are limitations with AI. And knowing if you're asking too much of it, I think is really important."

— Naomi Delkamiller [00:19:38 → 00:19:44]

"I grew up in an environment where you constantly want to learn, you constantly are curious. And I think that's my biggest asset when it comes to this discussion about AI and journalism, is that I am deeply curious about how it's going to be useful. And I'm also kind of, I'm a little bit skeptical, but I also don't want, you know, the people at the top to be making decisions about how we use it. I'm kind of a big proponent of letting the people figure it out."

— Naomi Delkamiller [00:24:45 → 00:25:10]

"I want to be in a world where when I ask Chat GPT questions, it's pulling from reputable sources with good information."

— Naomi Delkamiller [00:26:10 → 00:26:17]

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Further Info:

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