Over the past few weeks, I attended three AI-focused events in London.
While they couldn’t have been more different, both left me with plenty to reflect on. One was at Bloomberg’s EMEA HQ—sleek, polished, and focused on how AI transforms design.
The other, hosted at Reuters, was focused on AI in journalism, tackling everything from ethics to economics.
Also my talk at the Annual Publishing Conference 2024.
Here’s what stood out and why it matters.
Designing with AI at Bloomberg
Bloomberg’s “Redefining Design with AI” event could have been just another demo.
Greg walked us through a step-by-step process, starting with a ChatGPT prompt to generate branding guidelines and feeding those into tools like MidJourney, Relume, or Runway to create additional materials. It was sleek and efficient—but honestly, not much I hadn’t seen before.
But Greg’s storytelling?
That was something else. He weaves concepts together and shows how AI can boost the speed of production and how using AI also prompts us to be more human than ever.
That stuck with me, especially as I’ve been reflecting on the role of storytelling in my own work.
AI doesn’t replace storytelling—it lets you explore multiple storylines faster.
AI Is a Flashlight That Illuminates Paths, but It Is You Who Decides Where to Go.
AI is like a flashlight in the dark.
AI throws endless ideas your way—but most of them are junk.
When I was working on “AI Code Assistants Boost Productivity? Read the Small Print,” AI pulled out data from research papers, but it couldn’t spot what was missing or what didn’t add up.
It’s your job to sift through the noise, challenge the claims, and figure out what’s real. That’s where intuition comes in.
Many can use tools like ChatGPT, MidJourney, and Copilot—which are incredible at generating ideas, concepts, and visuals in record time.
But the real value comes when you know how to use them to tell a story.
How to Work Better Side-by-Side with AI
AI is a tool that helps you explore a dark forest. It lights up dozens of trails but won’t tell you which one to take. That’s on you—your instincts, curiosity, and courage to explore.
AI’s IQ x Your EQ
AI can spit out facts but can’t bring a story to life. That’s why I reached out to the authors of those research papers. Talking to them added layers AI couldn’t touch—emotional depth, context, and the human side of the story.
AI lays the foundation, but your curiosity and connections make it meaningful.
What AI Won’t Do for You
AI doesn’t care about hype or digging deeper—it’ll give you whatever you ask for, good or bad. It’s up to you to ask the tough questions, connect the dots, and find the story's soul.
That’s how you turn a pile of AI-generated ideas into something that truly resonates.
AI is the tool, not the storyteller. Without your vision, it’s just noise.
Greg said it best:
AI makes me think about humans more than before.
The Reuters Event: When AI Meets Journalism…
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