What Makes an AI More Persuasive

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A new study “examined what factors make one chatbot more persuasive than another and found that AI models needn’t be more powerful, more personalized, or more skilled in advanced rhetorical techniques to be more convincing. Instead, chatbots were most effective when they threw fact-like claims at the user; the most persuasive AI models were those that provided the most “evidence” in support of their argument, regardless of whether that evidence had any bearing on reality. In fact, the most persuasive chatbots were also the least accurate.” -The Atlantic

AI Definitions: AI engineers 

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AI engineers – AI engineers work on the front end of AI machines, building AI-powered applications. On the other side, data scientists help collect and clean data and work with AI to make sense of it. Unlike those working in traditional IT roles, AI engineers will fix the AI when it breaks by digging through the layers to determine why it went wrong and how to repair it. Like a plumber, they’ll snake the pipes to clear out the system and figure out how to avoid the problem next time. This will be particularly important for models that have been highly customized to an organization.

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20 Webinars this week about AI, Journalism & Media

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Mon, Jan 12 - Report for America 

What: Learn about Report for America opportunities and application process.  

Who: Earl Johnson, vice president of recruitment and alumni engagement, Report for America.

When: 7 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free to CMA members

Sponsor: College Media Association, Report for America

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Mon, Jan 12 - Report For America Corps in 2026

What: Participants will explore the possibilities that Report for America has to offer. Whether you’re considering a role in the RFA Corps or simply curious about the opportunities available to you, don’t miss this opportunity to learn more.

Who: Tim Lampley is Report for America’s recruitment manager.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Military Veterans in Journalism.

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Tue, Jan 13 - Level up your journalism: How to thrive in 2026

What: This session will focus on the essential skills every journalist needs to thrive, not just survive, in 2026 (and beyond). This session will focus on building and strengthening your sources, managing the daily grind while tackling bigger stories, and charting your career trajectory. Our panel of journalists and editors will share tactics and offer lessons learned to help you level up.

Who: Phil Rosen, co-founder, Opening Bell Daily; Sara Salinas, senior business editor, CNBC; Laura Sanicola, senior energy writer, Barron’s Moderator Chris Roush, assistant vice president of strategic partnerships, Elon University

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free for members, $10 nonmembers

Sponsor: SABEW (Society for Advancing Business Editing & Writing)

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Tue, Jan 13 - Designing Inclusive and Impactful Nonprofit Websites

What: Discover how to create nonprofit websites that inspire action and foster inclusivity. This session will provide strategies for designing user-friendly, visually compelling websites that connect with diverse audiences and reflect your mission. Learn practical tips to optimize layout, content, accessibility features, and navigation, ensuring that your website effectively engages supporters and serves your community. Whether you're revamping an existing site or building a new one, this workshop will empower your nonprofit to create a digital presence that is both impactful and inclusive.

Who: Melissa Stanely Pitts, Tapp Network, Director of Client Service; Kyle Barkins, Tapp Network, Co-Founder.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: TechSoup

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Tue, Jan 13 - B2B Media SEO Playbook: More AI for SEO

What: This session breaks down the core principles of optimizing content for generative engines, including what these systems look for, how they interpret your site, and how shifts in AI search will impact your editorial strategy. You’ll learn practical steps that make your content more discoverable and more valuable in an AI-driven ecosystem. We'll also dig into prompt construction, using real examples to demonstrate how vague instructions can be transformed into precise, effective prompts that strengthen research, drafts, summaries and story planning.

Who: Erin Hallstrom, the director of content operations and visibility for Endeavor Business Media; Alexis Gajewski, the associate director or newsroom operations and development for Endeavor Business Media,

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free to members, $25 for nonmembers

Sponsor: American Society of Business Publication Editors

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Tue, Jan 13 - News Journalism Workshop

When: 7 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: News Associates (UK)

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Wed, Jan 14 - Bridging Innovation: Leveraging AI Research to Transform Industry

What: Join us for a research summit exploring how cutting-edge AI research is accelerating breakthroughs in health care and financial technologies.  

Who: Shih-Fu Chang, Dean of Columbia Engineering; Vishal Misra, Vice Dean of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, RKS Family Professor of Computer Science; Wafaa El-Sadr, Executive Vice President of Columbia Global.

When: 8 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Columbia Global Centers

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Wed, Jan 14 - Using AI Tools for Social Media

What: We will show you how to harness existing AI tools to plan smarter, create better content, and manage the process too. You’ll get real-world examples to help you understand how to make AI work for your social media campaigns. Your instructor will provide information, examples and demonstrate the process.

Who: Mary Joynt, Marketing Coach Loudoun SBDC.

When: 10 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Small Business Development Center, Virginia

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Wed, Jan 14 - Populism’s Challenge to Journalism Organization

What: An in-depth look at how populism is challenging journalism, what it means for the quality of our news, for trust in our news, for the work of journalists and the preparation of our students.

Who: Julie Firmstone, University of Leeds; Richard Tait, from Cardiff University; Tor Clark, Associate Professor in Journalism at the University of Leicester, co-editor, of the book Pandering to Populism? Journalism and Politics in a Post-truth Age; Sean Dodson, a contributor to that book, Senior Lecturer in Journalism at Leeds Beckett University.

When: 10 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Association for Journalism Education, UK

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Wed, Jan 14 - Navigating the Next Phase of AI Content Licensing Organization: International News Media Association

What: Why content is becoming the scarcest and most valuable resource in the AI ecosystem, how pricing models are emerging, and why publishers must act now to shape standards, rights, and commercial returns.

Who: Jonathan Roberts, chief innovation officer of People.

When: 10 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: International News Media Association

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Wed, Jan 14 - Getting Started With Datawrapper

What: You'll learn what Datawrapper's all about, and how to get started and create engaging visualizations.

Who: Guillermina Sutter Schneider, data scientist & information designer.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Datawrapper

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Thu, Jan 15 - Content Marketing

What: This session focuses on content marketing—creating messages that connect, inform, and build trust with your audience.  You’ll learn:  What content marketing is (and what it isn’t); How to create content that supports your business goals; Easy ideas you can reuse across platforms.

When: 11:30 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Small Business Development Center, Gannon University

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Thu, Jan 15 - 30 Minute Skills: Health Care Reporting 101 Organization

Who: Felice Freyer, formally Boston Globe & Providence Journal.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: New England First Amendment Coalition

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Thu, Jan 15 - AI-Powered Learning with Video: Accelerating Skills and Impact

What: Gain insights from Panopto, recognized for advancing how learning becomes discoverable, meaningful, and seamlessly integrated into everyday work.

Who: Amy Clark, Chief Operating Officer, Panopto; Susy Martins Founder & CEO, Advise2Rise.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Panopto

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Thu, Jan 15 - Small Business AI Jam

What: A fast, accessible introduction to the core skills and workflows taught at the in-person. You’ll learn step-by-step techniques and build a simple, ready-to-use workflow for your business.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: OpenAI Academy

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Thu, Jan 15 - Untangling 2026 Privacy: New Laws, Amendments, Enforcement, and More

What: You’ll learn: The lessons we should take away from 2025’s privacy developments; Major features of the new California amendments and recently effective consumer privacy laws in Kentucky, Rhode Island, and Indiana; What recent privacy enforcement is telling us and what to expect in 2026.

Who: Osano’s Chief Privacy & Trust Officer Rachael Ormiston; Troutman Pepper Locke’s Privacy + Cyber Associates Shelby Dolen.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: JD Supra

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Thu, Jan 15 - The 2026 Forecast for Data and AI

What: Annual predictions webinar, where we’ll break down these challenges and show you how to turn them into business opportunities.

Who: Dennis Buchheim, Global Head of GTM – Adtech/Martech, Communications, Media & Entertainment, Snowflake; Erin Foxworthy, Global Industry GTM Lead, Marketers & Advertisers, Snowflake.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Snowflake

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Thu, Jan 15 - The Top Marketing Trends for 2026

What: This webinar breaks down the marketing trends that’ll shape 2026, from customer-led buying and early trust signals, to practical AI use and the expanding role of compliance. Designed for marketing leaders, this session focuses on what to prepare for now and where communication standards will matter most in the year ahead.

Who: Jennifer Herbison, SVP Global Marketing; Kyle Krone; Senior Manager - Regional Marketing.

When: 8 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Exclaimer

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Fri, Jan 16 - Character Consistency Solved: AI Image Generation Workflows

What: You'll learn workflows for generating consistent characters using multiple AI image generation tools. We'll explore how to combine the strengths of different tools, such as using Midjourney, Flux, and Nano Banana. Different tools have strengths for initial character creation, generating additional poses, and combining multiple characters into scenes. You'll see several approaches for accomplishing these tasks so you can choose the workflow that fits your needs and budget. We'll also discuss current limitations of these tools and what they can't yet do reliably.

Who: Christy Tucker Learning Experience Design (LXD) Consultant.

When: 11 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Training Magazine Network

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Fri, Jan 16 - Following the Money in the 2026 Midterms – Resources for Local Journalists

What: Participants will learn: How to find, download, and incorporate public data into their elections-focused storytelling on deadline; How to explore Open Secrets’ “Get Local!” donations tracker and other reliable tools; Strategies to strengthen their midterms coverage in 2026 through accountability journalism.

Who: Brendan Glavin is the Director of Insights at OpenSecrets.

When: 12 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: The National Press Club

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Study: Can Chatbots get People to Change their Vote?

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"Roughly one in 10 participants in a study said they would change their vote in highly contested national elections in Canada and Poland after talking with a chatbot. The AI models took the role of a gentle, if firm, interlocutor, offering arguments and evidence in favor of the candidate they represented. 'If you could do that at scale,' the senior author on the study said, 'it would really change the outcome of elections.'” -The Atlantic

AI Definitions: Data Scientist

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Data Scientist - A data scientist is responsible for gleaning insights from a massive pool of data. They help collect and cleanse data, then work with the AI to make sense of it, often through discovering patterns. Data scientists typically hold advanced degrees in quantitative fields such as computer science, physics, statistics, or applied mathematics. With a strong understanding of math and statistics, they can invent new algorithms to solve data problems. They typically use programming languages such as Python, R, and SQL. Data scientists will be familiar with big data tools such as Hadoop and Apache Spark and will have experience working with unstructured data. If someone doesn’t list these skills on their resume, then that person probably isn't an authentic data scientist. AI advancements have shifted the role from number crunching to one of supervisory, strategic, and ethical oversight. Instead of producing hand-crafted models by line-by-line coding, the data scientist of the future will likely audit AI outputs, manage data ethics, and translate algorithmic outcomes into boardroom decisions. (also see AI engineers)

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7 Articles about AI & Facial Recognition

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18 Articles about AI & Politics

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New York Signs AI Safety Bill Into Law, Ignoring Trump Executive Order - Wall Street Journal

Israel reportedly using facial recognition and Google Photos to conduct mass surveillance in Gaza - Mashable

“Tinder for Nazis” hit by 100GB data leak, thousands of users exposed with the help of AI - CyberNews 

If U.S.-China AI Rivalry Were Football, the Score Would Be 24-18 – Wall Street Journal

Chatbots Are Surprisingly Effective at Swaying Voters - The Atlantic  

Senators Investigate Role of A.I. Data Centers in Rising Electricity Costs – New York Time 

Trump Clears Sale of More Powerful Nvidia A.I. Chips to China - New York Times 

Cheap and powerful AI campaigns target voters in India – Rest of World  

Putin Wanted AI Supremacy. Now Russia Is Struggling to Stay in the Race. - Wall Street Journal

AI may discriminate against you at work. Some states are making it illegal. – Washington Post  

A growing share of America’s hottest AI startups have turned to open Chinese AI models – NBC News 

How China’s new AI systems are reshaping human rights - Australian Strategic Policy Institute

New rule targets AI discrimination. Here’s what workers need to know. - Washington Post 

Silicon Valley’s Man in the White House Is Benefiting Himself and His Friends - New York Times

China’s AI warpath – Politico

AI Enters the Classroom at the Marine War College – Military.com 

US to mandate AI vendors measure political bias for federal sales – Reuters  

AI-generated political videos are more about memes and money than persuading and deceiving – The Conversation

AI Definitions: Perplexity AI

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Perplexity AI - A good research option among the generative AI tools, it acts like a search engine but includes results from the web. Automatically shows the source of the information, making it more reliable than ChatGPT. Users can specify where they want the information to come from among several categories, such as academic sources or YouTube. Users can also upload documents as sources and ask it to rewrite prompts. It suggests follow-up questions you might not have considered. Less useful for creative writing. Free. Video tutorial here.

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The Vibe-Coding Guardrails

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Jason Lemkin, a startup founder, embarked on a very public experiment in AI-assisted development to build a networking application. Over the course of a week, euphoria turned to disaster. Lemkin tweeted that the AI agent had caused a catastrophic failure: it had gone rogue and wiped his production database entirely, despite explicit instructions to freeze all code modifications. The incident was peak vibe-coding, crystallizing growing concerns that the speed and apparent ease of AI-generated code had seduced builders into abandoning the very guardrails that prevent such disasters. Despite the recent gloom, I’m actually optimistic about LLMs coding more broadly. We just have to use the tools differently. - Michael Li, Harvard Business Review

24 Free Online AI Classes of Note

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7 Webinars this week about AI, Journalism & Media

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Wed, Jan 7 - What News Media Will Achieve in 2026  

What: Some of the topics: The search collapse; The AI reckoning; Data as the new lifeline; Brand over volume; etc.

Who: INMA President Gert Ysebaert, INMA CEO Earl Wilkinson.

When: 10 am, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: International News Media Association

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Wed, Jan 7 -Marketing, Ethics, and AI

What: In this webinar, we’ll examine the ethical challenges of AI in marketing, explore how AI impacts consumer trust and brand perception, apply AI in ways that preserve and enhance brand authenticity, introduce techniques for sustaining long-term customer trust. discover ways to market with authenticity and transparency.

Who: Sarah Felmet is a marketing strategist and educator with expertise in brand management, marketing operations, and content creation.

When: 1 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: University of Minnesota

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Wed, Jan 7 - Strategies for Overcoming Writer's Block  

What: Tips and tricks that will get you in the flow and writing like a professional. Whether you're a beginner or advanced, these tools are ones that anyone will find enlightening and invaluable. 

Who: Best-selling author Derek Taylor Kent is the author of 19 published and soon-to-be published books, including seven novels, dozens of screenplays, plays, and musicals, and more.

When: 1:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Author Learning Center

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Thu, Jan 8 - TikTok for Authors: Finding Success with Visual Media in the New Year

What: We will show you what TikTok is all about, walk you through setting up your account, and discuss how to create simple video content potential readers want to see. Whether you're a new author or a seasoned pro, this session will equip you with the tools and knowledge you need to thrive on TikTok in the New Year.

Who: Laura Perez is an author/publisher with Palmas Publishing and Manra Moon Press .

When: 1:30 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Author Learning Center

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Thu, Jan 8 - The Cyber-Smart Campus: Defending Data in the AI Era

What: We’ll look at how AI is being used to make phishing and impersonation more convincing, to steal data, and to break into connected devices — and how the same technology can bolster your defenses.

Who: Alexander C. Kafka, Senior Editor, The Chronicle of Higher Education; Mike Corn, Executive Strategic Consultant Vantage Technology Consulting Group; Sherri Davidoff, Founder LMG Security; Jodi Ito, Chief Information Security Officer University of Hawaii; Chris Schreiber, Founder CampusCISO.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Chronicle of Higher Ed

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Thu, Jan 8 - Generative AI and collection development policies: A proactive approach

What: A team of librarians from the Salt Lake County Library will share the process they used and the insights they acquired while updating their collection development policy and selection guidelines to include materials created by AI.

Who: Donalee Jacobs, Acquisition Librarian, Salt Lake County Library; Katie Wegner, Acquisition Librarian, Salt Lake County Library; Kara Huggard, Youth Services Librarian, Salt Lake County Library.

When: 3 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: Webjunction

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Sat, Jan 10 - Affiliation of Christians in AI

What: An inaugural meeting of the ASA Affiliation of Christians in Artificial Intelligence.

Who: Noel Anderson, American Scientific Affiliation.

When: 2 pm, Eastern

Where: Zoom

Cost: Free

Sponsor: American Scientific Affiliation

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AI & Critical Thinking

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There’s a concern that generative AI “bypasses reflection and criticality." The conclusion is then that teaching, therefore, must remain the same, AI must be resisted, and critical thinking must take place in the same way it always has—as if there is something sacred about the particular process that teachers are familiar with and invested in continuing.  

Instead, assignments need to take into account the tools available to the student. With AI options, critical thinking shifts toward new places. Offloading part of the work to AI is fine — provided the mental engagement still takes place elsewhere. The problem is not including AI in the mix, but trying to force old pedagogical methods onto new paradigms. 

A couple of decades ago, some professors told students not to use the internet because doing so would cut out some of the critical thinking and learning process, gained from trudging to the library and looking things up in printed books. Having information at their fingertips was a learning shortcut. Actually, the real issues remained the same: learning what counted as reputable sources, making defendable claims, and expressing that information in a lucid and compelling way. 

Stephen Goforth

“Tinder for Nazis” hit by data leak with help from AI

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“An investigative journalist has infiltrated a white supremacist dating website. The researcher then created a website where 8,000 of the leaked profiles are on a map, exposing users from different regions of the world. She says, ‘Imagine calling yourselves the ‘master race’ but forgetting to secure your own website – maybe try mastering to host WordPress before world domination.’” She appeared before a German audience, dressed as the Pink Power Ranger, and systematically deleted the site. -more info: CyberNews & Metro UK

20 Articles from December 2025 about AI & Data Science

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AI Definitions: Knowledge Collapse

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Knowledge Collapse – A gradual narrowing of accessible information, along with a declining awareness of alternative or obscure viewpoints. With each training cycle, new AI models increasingly rely on previously produced AI-generated content, reinforcing prevailing narratives and further marginalizing less prominent perspectives. The resulting feedback loop creates a cycle where dominant ideas are continuously amplified while less widely-held (and new) views are minimized. Underrepresented knowledge becomes less visible – not because it lacks merit, but because it is less frequently retrieved and less often cited. (also see “Synthetic Data”)

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15 Surprising Things AI can do now

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AI Definitions: Steganography

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Steganography (pronounced STEG-an-ography, like the “Steg” in “stegasaurus”) - A method of tracking images by embedding an invisible code into the pixels that is invisible to humans but will travel along with the image during its lifetime. The marked images can be traced back to the original source with high level of accuracy because the code is embedded directly into the image’s pixels. Because the watermarks live directly in the visual part of the image itself, they are nearly impossible to remove, surviving common image-related manipulation such as aggressive cropping and taking screen shots of the image. If you’ve created an AI image recently, you’ve almost certainly used steganography without even knowing it. Most major AI image generation companies now use the tech. Companies are adding a poisoning application to these images. If someone should try to use them for deepfakes, the user will find them garbled and unusable.

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