About The Episode

This week I spoke with Brigitte Tousignant on the topic of automated journalism. I’ve been meaning to have her on the podcast for a few weeks now specifically to discuss a recent series of news events pertaining to a number of news outlets actually firing some staff and replacing them with AI systems. Though I have briefly introduced automated journalism in previous episodes, I found Brigitte’s points and analysis to be much more comprehensive, so if you’re intrigued by how AI is impacting the journalism industry i’m sure you’ll enjoy this discussion. 

About The Guest

Brigitte is a freelance journalist based in Montreal, Canada. Her most notable work was her involvement in Tainted H2O, a 2019 national collaborative investigation facilitated by the Institute for Investigative Journalism, which revealed that the provinces were not accurately measuring lead levels in drinking water, which left Canadians exposed to lead levels comparable to or higher than those of Flint, Michigan, at the height of their 2015 water crisis. 

She is currently completing her thesis in the Digital Innovation in Journalism Master’s program at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Her thesis focuses on automated journalism in Canada, its current impact and future implications for Canadian journalists.

Get in touch with Brigitte:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigitte-tousignant/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrigitteTousi

Additional Notes:
Microsoft replaces journalists with AI: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/30/microsoft-sacks-journalists-to-replace-them-with-robots
Microsoft’s Journalist AI mistakes mixed race singers: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jun/09/microsofts-robot-journalist-confused-by-mixed-race-little-mix-singers