Two Fellows Join Future Press AI Journalism Project Team
The Future Press AI Journalism Project has been working since February 2023 to understand the role of AI chatbots in journalism and newsrooms. The team is comprised of Professor Robert Quigley, Ashlyn Poole, Katlynn Fox, Angelica Ruzanova and Jonathan Hopper.
Professor Quigley expressed his excitement regarding the expansion to their team, "We have learned so much about the power and limitations of artificial intelligence as it relates to journalism. There’s still much to test out, from newsroom workflow to content creation, and I believe expanding our team will give us the resources we need."
Meet the AI fellows and read about their roles in the project thus far.
Jonathan Hopper
- English and Journalism Senior
- Hometown: Dallas, TX
I am an AI Researcher with the Media Innovation Group. I am excited to research the ways AI will impact journalism, from ethical concerns to building tools that will help news rooms. We are currently working with a tool to help analyze the Daily Texan archives. This is an exciting opportunity and I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish. Outside of school and research I enjoy spending time in the outdoors, including scuba diving and riding my motorcycle. I'm also enjoy reading, writing, and all literature.
Ashlynn Poole
- Journalism Sophomoro with Elements of Computing certificate
- Hometown: Dallas, TX
Hi! My name is Ashlyn Poole, a sophomore Journalism student pursuing an Elements of Computing certificate. I am ecstatic about playing a larger role in the Media Innovation Group by being on the AI team this semester. My journalistic experience began with my high school’s yearbook and progressed into multimedia storytelling for my hometown’s community newspaper. Coming to UT, I wanted to learn as much as I could and discover my niche. That’s exactly what this opportunity allows me to do, and I hope to find my expertise in the field of data journalism as well as explore new ways to implement ethical AI into the media. Last semester, I became involved in data club and I absolutely loved it. So when Professor Quigley had his AI team present in Digital Storytelling class last spring, being a part of what they were doing became my biggest goal. I took his AI in the Media class over the summer, which got me thinking deeply about how AI applications could honestly go terribly wrong, but I was thinking more about the insane potential of the technology. It became even more clear to me that the best way to keep the profession of journalism alive is not to be afraid of how new tools will inevitably change it, but to be at the forefront of such innovation. I don’t want the essence of journalism to be sacrificed to AI, and that’s why it’s so important for teams like this to exist–to discover responsible and useful ways to integrate AI advances into the field without compromising foundational journalistic values.
Angelica Ruzanova
- Journalism Senior and Philosophy of Law minor
- Hometown: Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Hello. My name is Angelica and I'm a third-year Journalism student pursuing a minor in the Philosophy of Law. My hometown is landlocked in a country that many people confuse with other neighboring -stans, and that is Tashkent, Uzbekistan. I also used to live in the United Arab Emirates and Russia. I joined the AI team this semester after becoming greatly intrigued by its capabilities in my industry. It feels like AI is integrated into every platform I turn to, and I wanted to join the group on campus that researches and experiments its place within newsrooms. So far, my projects have been nothing short of exciting. The team and I prompted numerous chatbots to write us auto-generated articles, skim the Internet for missing context, and even attempt to write a journalistic newsletter. Next, we want to see whether AI can help with fact-checking, detecting bias in media, and summarizing large files into digestible information. There really is no limit to what we find and do!
Katlynn Fox
Hello! I'm Katlynn Fox, a fourth-year journalism major with a minor in women’s and gender studies. I’m originally from Plano, TX and in my time outside of work I love going to the movies and taking long walks with my dog.
I am working on two different projects with the Media Innovation Group. For the AI team, I am excited to help with organization, project management, and administrative strategy.