In Conversation: Thomas Seymat on Teaching AI to Journalism Students
In Conversation: Thomas Seymat on Teaching AI to Journalism Students
Plus: We bread down what the White House executive order on AI means for journalists, and did Apple just join the party?
Appears in this episode
In this week’s conversation, I talk to Thomas Seymat of Euronews on teaching the next generation of journalism students in a world where AI is on the rise. Plus John Biggs and I break down the week’s news, zeroing in on the White House executive order.
Perhaps the people best positioned to thrive in tomorrow’s media ecosystem are today’s journalism students. Learning how generative AI can assist in their work while also learning the fundamentals of the trade means the next generation of reporters will have machines assisting their work from the start.
Helping guide this vanguard of robot-enhanced journalists is Thomas Seymat. Thomas is the Editorial Projects and Development Manager for Euronews, and he also teaches at the Journalist Training Center in France, one of the oldest journalism schools in Europe. This fall he’s leading a class on the use of GenAI in reporting, coaching them on how ChatGPT, Midjourney and other tools can make them stronger, more efficient reporters while also establishing where the guardrails are on their use.
Our conversation was illuminating — and somewhat reassuring — about the future of journalism and the next generation. Thomas revealed how his students are already using these tools, their thoughts on the ethics of AI, and some “road to Damascus” moments in their journey.
On the news brief, John Biggs and I discuss why labeling content as “AI assisted” is practically useless, whether or not Apple’s new AI-ready Macs mean anything, and that the White House executive order on AI might actually be pretty good? That’s up first.
Information on the AI class John and I are teaching is here. More to come on that soon.