AI deepfakes like Taylor Swift’s make trusted media brands more valuable than ever
Good morning.
I’m thrilled to be joining Fortune today as executive director of Fortune Live Media and editorial director of the Fortune CEO Initiative. I’ve long admired Fortune as a daunting competitor when interviewing CEOs and covering the global business landscape for other media outlets. I’m also coming into this role during a difficult time in the media industry. Many of my former colleagues at Forbes are on strike today as media and tech companies lay off more staff.
We all know that there’s a fundamental shift taking place in the media industry. Mere months after the launch of ChatGPT, Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner warned employees of the German media group that AI could lead to significant job cuts. AI has also made it easier to generate hallucinations (a.k.a. dumb mistakes) and deepfakes that challenge media consumers to distinguish fact from fiction—from false audio of President Joe Biden urging people not to vote in New Hampshire to fake nudes of Taylor Swift and AI-powered social media ads in which Bill Ackman hawks seminars on how to get rich. (While Ackman posted a note on X last month to say he’d taken down 200+ deepfakes so far, I got another offer from his fake doppelganger yesterday.)
And yet the forces that have made people lose faith in the media also create an opportunity for brands like Fortune to become more valuable than ever. I’m especially excited by the opportunity to unleash the power of live media to create connections, community, context, and trusted content.
Let me add one more 'C' to that list: curiosity. I created a newspaper column at 15 to meet people doing interesting things in my hometown of Burlington, Ontario. My first interview was with Rob Preuss of The Spoons, who's now a musician in New York, and I’ve been asking questions ever since. What a gift to have a chance to keep learning and connecting the dots on what's next. I look forward to getting your feedback and bringing you insights from leaders around the world.
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Diane Brady
@dianebrady
diane.brady@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
