Join us at the Digiday Publishing Summit from March 24-26 in Vail
Publishers weigh generative AI’s pros and cons during the Digiday Publishing Summit
This article is part of Digiday’s coverage of its Digiday Publishing Summit. More from the series →
The third-party cookie may have gotten a lot of attention on stage during the September 2023 edition of the Digiday Publishing Summit. But AI was a major focal point throughout the event.
For the most part — based on interviews with publishers who spoke at DPS featured in the video below — their focus for the moment seems to be on how AI can make people’s jobs easier, as opposed to take people’s jobs away. Additionally, publishers seem to be exerting a healthy amount of caution — and concern — when it comes to how much of their businesses they want to expose to AI. Specifically, they are largely drawing a line when it comes to content creation.
“When we think about AI… it’s more about the internal work it can help us eliminate rather than outsourcing the meat of our jobs,” said Charlotte Owen, editor-in-chief of BDG-owned Bustle and Elite Daily.
More in Media
Media Briefing: Publishers see Apple News+ as a stable revenue stream amid ‘volatile’ referral traffic
Apple News+ is a growing source of audience and revenue, according to publishers including The Atlantic, Dotdash Meredith and Newsweek.
As political polarization intensifies, agencies struggle to find brand-safe gaming influencers
People have debated politics on the internet for years, but the political turmoil of 2024 and early 2025 has spurred many creators to be more vocal about their beliefs, particularly within the gaming space.
Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian teams with Kevin Rose to resurrect Digg
Plans for Digg include a mobile-first redesign and using AI for content quality and community management.