Blog: Baltimore Reflections: Hacks/Hackers AI x Journalism Summit

It was a fruitful few days in Baltimore for the Hacks/Hackers AI x Journalism Summit. From the moment I stepped off the train, I was greeted with reunions of friends, former colleagues, and favorite spots from when I used to live in the city.

Both days focused on building, using, reporting, and researching with AI, and I found myself constantly assessing and anticipating the benefits and risks of current tools. Every session I attended was tactful and left me feeling curious, equipped, and a bit encouraged about the next few years of AI adoption in media. Many of the conversations I heard shifted from "what ifs" to "what can" and "what mights," which I found refreshing in contrast to the vendor fatigue and AI slop we've all been navigating the past couple of years.

I'm walking away with three key insights that really stuck with me:

• In the age of AGI, journalism will be pushed further into its watchdog role and "craft beer" moments
• We can really use AI for research workflows. Building custom processes using the latest tools is much more accessible now, and we can interface with datasets using discretion, not just skepticism
• It's unclear if we can ethically study, research, and develop AI in the U.S. under the current political climate, so the onus is on individuals and institutions to guide their actions with AI

I'm also walking away newly curious about responsible scaling policies and how they might show up in startup newsrooms, especially given the recurring challenges I see in sustainably growing, managing resources, validating business models, and meaningfully engaging audiences.

I left the summit feeling that journalism's relationship with AI is maturing beyond initial skepticism. While I recognize challenges remain—particularly around bias, accuracy, and ethical deployment—I'm encouraged by how the collective focus has shifted toward practical applications that can enhance rather than replace journalistic integrity.

Thank you to the Hacks/Hackers team for hosting and organizing, providing travel stipends, and including me in your insights coverage.

It was a fruitful few days in Baltimore for the Hacks/Hackers AI x… | Madison Karas

It was a fruitful few days in Baltimore for the Hacks/Hackers AI x Journalism Summit. From (literally) the moment I stepped off the train, I was greeted with reunions of friends, former colleagues, and favorite spots from when I used to live in the city. Both days of the summit focused on building, using, reporting, and researching with AI, which involved assessing and anticipating the benefits and risks of current tools. Every session I attended was tactful and left me feeling curious, equipped, and a bit encouraged about the next few years of AI adoption in media. Many of the conversations shifted from “what ifs” to “what can” and “what mights”, which was refreshing in contrast to the vendor fatigue and AI slop we’ve all been navigating the past couple of years. My other main notes and takeaways: - In the age of AGI, journalism will be pushed further into its watchdog role and “craft beer” moments - We can reaaalllly use AI for research workflows as building custom processes using the latest tools is much more accessible now, and we can interface datasets with discretion, not just skepticism - It's unclear if we can ethically study, research, and develop AI in the U.S. under the current political climate, so the onus is on individuals and institutions to guide their actions with it I'm also walking away newly curious about responsible scaling policies and how they might show up in startup newsrooms, especially given the recurring challenges in sustainably growing, managing resources, validating business models, and meaningfully engaging audiences. All in all, it was a great time. Thank you to Paul Cheung and Burt Herman for organizing (and providing travel stipends!), and to those (pictured and not pictured) who made my trip so meaningful: Cassie Clark, Tejal Wakchoure, Ruby Yuan, Eric Ulken, Elizabeth Flynn, David Chivers, Patrick Boehler, Vania André, Paris Brown, Cynthia Greer, Max Resnik, Rosemary D'Amour, and many others. 🤖 👩‍💻 📰 🏙️ 🛳️ ⚓

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