This was Media Party 2023: Uncovering the keys to Artificial Intelligence in media
Media Party continues to be a light of innovation in the media industry. Over 2000 journalists, designers, programmers, activists, and entrepreneurs gathered at the eleventh edition of this conference, which took place from October 5th to 7th at Ciudad Cultural Konex in Buenos Aires. Since 2011, Media Party has been bringing together the brightest minds in the industry with the goal of rebooting journalism through technology. The main focus this year was Artificial Intelligence and its application in the media, with an emphasis on ethics, security, and privacy.
Notable Speakers:
The conference featured over 14 keynotes with the presence of influential local and international speakers, among whom Brigitte Tousignant and Freddy Boulton stood out as a reference from Hugging Face in the field of open-source machine learning. John Keefe, who serves as Weather Data Editor at The New York Times, was another notable figure. Sil Hamilton, a specialist in natural language processing models from Hacks Hackers, also shared insights. Paul Cheung, CEO Center for Public Integrity, known for his extensive experience in digital transformation using AI, was among the speakers. Ryan Gantz, cofounder and product leader at Vox Media, and Joanna Geary, who brought nine years of experience from her time at Twitter at the intersection of journalism, technology, and product development, were also prominent figures.
Throughout the event, 28 practical and theoretical workshops were conducted, along with two sessions of enlightening lightning talks held to a packed house. A total of 27 media thought leaders shared their invaluable experiences. The educational program spanned a range of topics, covering content, audience engagement, sustainability, and delving into pertinent subjects such as combating misinformation, journalist privacy, addressing climate change, and exploring the dynamics of the local news ecosystem.
Hackathon “Artificial Intelligence, News, and Democracies”:
The highlight of the conference was the traditional Hackathon held on Saturday, October 7. Over 10 multidisciplinary teams, comprising 180 participants, competed for a USD $5,000 prize while developing innovative projects. Among the projects selected by a panel of experts were Demystif.AI, a web extension designed to provide credibility and transparency indicators for news based on criteria of journalistic quality; Datos Electorales, a Chatbot capable of interpreting data requests related to one or more elections; and MinorGard, an AI created to identify the faces of minors in live broadcasts and ensure their anonymity.
Media Party ManiFest:
This year, Media Party introduced its first Manifesto, an analysis of the state of the media industry from the perspective of its participants. Through a survey, over 80 professionals contemplated the value of exploring artificial intelligence tools with critical thinking and enthusiasm, highlighting the importance of sharing insights on responsible and ethical usage as creative and strategic co-pilots, with journalism at its core. It is noteworthy that 50% of the surveyed individuals considered this discussion to be the most valuable and stimulating aspect of the conference.
Media Party Advisory Network:
During the conference, the “Media Party Advisory Network” was announced. It is a network of professionals who are experts in the media industry, and its aim is to provide guidance and valuable knowledge for future events. This initiative seeks to identify leaders in media innovation on a global scale, expand partnerships and sponsorships, explore new venues for future editions, and establish a global management team, a board of directors, and an advisory council.
Support and Collaborations:
For the second consecutive year, thanks to the support of Google News Initiative, 20 media professionals from 10 Argentine provinces had the opportunity to participate in Media Party with their expenses covered. Additionally, 8 Latin American media outlets had the chance to present their projects and receive feedback from experts at MDIF, a nonprofit investment fund that supports independent media.
Media Party was organized with the support of Hacks/Hackers and had main partners such as Google News Initiative, International Center For Journalists, Media Development Investment Fund, International Fund for Public Interest Media, Internet Society, and Telecom. Furthermore, support was provided by sponsors, including Dosunos, Adzone, SmartStory.AI, NMedia, and Kipus.
Media Party 2023 was a testament to the power of collaboration between journalism and technology in shaping the future of media.
If you are interested in conducting an interview with our international guests, please contact us at produccion@mediaparty.org.
