The media business is facing a crisis brought about by artificial intelligence. Since the dawn of the internet, people have had to click on the link to read the article. Now they can ask the chatbot what is going on in the world.
Even if people like CloudFlare co-founder and CEO Matthew Prince are trying to praise the way publishers charge bots, the current business model of internet publishing is under threat.
However, the advent of AI and associated shakeups also provide great opportunities for entrepreneurship in local and niche publications.
In the last tech era, we had a Substack. This allowed traditional journalists to make a living by attacking themselves and requesting content from their loyal followers. Some success stories in technology media include Casey Newton, Eric Newcomer and Alex Kantrowitz.
AI moves us past the age of platforms, moving us to something new and in many ways better. Platforms often have reward structures that lead to uniformity. However, AI reduces almost all barriers to media creation and denies the need for a versatile platform. What applies to valley technology reporters may also apply to small town newspaper reporters left behind by the high-tech revolution that destroyed the industry.
AI tools can reduce the cost of publishing near zero. It can also be used to understand your growth strategy and business model. In one town, events may be a good revenue model. In other cases, subscription or corporate sponsorship may work. Video and other media can be addressed with minimal investment.
The best case scenario allows AI-quality media startups to pop up nationwide and worldwide in underserved niches, allowing our people on the ground to be able to spend their time and money. Doing what AI can’t do: Collecting information that is not online The worst case scenario is that “real journalists” ignore opportunities and use powerful new AI tools with entities that are less committed to accurate information.
What happens next can have meaningful effects on democratic health.
