AI As A Tool For Writing, Not A Replacement

Though the current popular narrative about social media seems to be that it is harmful and has little or no redeeming value, the truth (which a lot of people know) is that it also has a lot of value, and the potential to be even better. A recent research report from New_Public finds some ideas on how to pursue that potential by looking at a niche, local social media site that moves a lot slower than the big networks, and this week we're joined by New_Public co-director Eli Pariser to discuss what useful lessons there might be to learn from "slow social media". Read the report (pdf): https://newpublic.org/uploads/2024/07/Front-Porch-Forum-report-2.pdf

If you're a Techdirt reader (or any tech news reader) you've already heard a lot of stories about the chaos of Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, but no matter how much you know, there's a lot to learn in a new book that hits the shelves today. Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, by New York Times reporters Kate Conger and Ryan Mac, is the definitive retelling of the saga-so-far, and it's full of fascinating details that make it a gripping read. Today, Kate joins us on the podcast to talk all about the book and the stories therein. Get the book: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/737290/character-limit-by-kate-conger-and-ryan-mac/

There's been plenty of conversation over the past decade about how unprepared the mainstream media was for the shifts that have happened in politics and political discourse, especially when it comes to finding... well... the truth. As we move towards the 2024 election, the challenges of reporting and fact checking are once again in the spotlight, and this week we're joined by NYU Journalism Professor and Jay Rosen to talk about the state of modern journalism, and how fact checking so often fails.

A few months ago, Mike wrote about the ways he uses AI tools when writing for Techdirt — not to do any of the actual writing, but to help improve it. The specific tool in question is Lex, a word processor with embedded AI features, and this week Lex founder Nathan Baschez joins Mike on the podcast to talk more about AI as a tool for creative improvement rather than a replacement for creativity.

We've had several episodes and posts lately all about NCMEC, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, looking at both the great work it does and some of the problems that plague it. One thing we've often been especially concerned about is the center's advocacy efforts, such as pushing for FOSTA and KOSA. This week, we're joined by former NCMEC board member Don McGowan, who shares his story about leaving the board over the many problems that plague it.

A few weeks ago, Mike was the moderator on a panel hosted by CCIA all about link taxes — the various problematic efforts around the world to force internet companies to pay media outlets for sending them traffic. The panel featured Public Knowledge Policy Director Lisa Macpherson, Lion Publishers Executive Director Chris Krewson, and lawyer Cathy Gellis who we regularly work with here at Techdirt. You can listen to the whole discussion here on this week's episode of the podcast.

It was over six years ago when we last had Renée DiResta on the podcast for a detailed discussion about misinformation and disinformation on social media. Since then, she's not only led extensive research on the subject, she's also become a central figure in the fever-dream conspiracy theories of online disinformation peddlers. Her new book Invisible Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies Into Reality dives deep into the modern ecosystem of online disinformation, and she joins us again on this week's episode to discuss the many things that have changed in the past six years.

The hosts of Ctrl-Alt-Speech are both on vacation this week, but we didn’t want to leave our listeners waiting too long for an update on today’s big news about online speech: the Supreme Court’s ruling in the NetChoice cases, which sends the Texas and Florida laws that would limit the ability of online platforms to moderate political speech back to the lower courts. So Mike Masnick has stepped briefly back to the microphone to join our producer, Leigh Beadon, for a quick mini episode of Ctrl-Alt-Speech, which we’re also posting to the Techdirt podcast feed. In this short discussion, Mike explains the immediate implications of the ruling, the way it separates procedural questions from its broader guidance on the First Amendment, and what it signals about how the court will evaluate issues like this in the future. Read more about the NetChoice ruling in our coverage on Techdirt: From Mike Masnick - https://www.techdirt.com/2024/07/01/in-content-moderation-cases-supreme-court-says-try-again-but-makes-it-clear-moderation-deserves-first-amendment-protections/ From Cathy Gellis - https://www.techdirt.com/2024/07/01/in-the-netchoice-cases-alito-and-his-buddies-are-wrong-but-even-if-they-were-right-it-may-not-matter-and-thats-largely-good-news/

We weren't planning to do a series, but after our last two episodes with Alice Marwick and then Candice Odgers, things have lined up nicely for a trifecta of episodes about the current moral panic around kids and social media. This week, we're joined by Dr. Devorah Heitner, an expert on kids and technology and author of the recent book Growing Up In Public, as well as a Substack about mentoring kids in a connected world, to discuss what parents really need to know about kids, social media, and the internet.

In the conversation about keeping kids safe online, the actual experts with the most to offer are all too often treated as outsiders and interlopers. One such expert is Candice Odgers, Professor of Psychological Science and Informatics at the University of California Irvine, who has recently been involved in a lot of debates against people who are very confident despite having far less information and expertise. This week, she joins us for something of a follow-up to our previous episode, to have a more productive discussion about the real challenges with kids and social media and the real efforts to address them.