Clickbait, communication and ChatGPT: CommsCo Tech Chat with Adi Gaskell

Tech has always promised to be a great leveller for society. It abides by the mantra of giving people access to tools and insights they were previously cut off from and ushering in broader equality. But has this actually been the reality? 

When it comes to a media landscape littered with clickbait headlines and misinformation, what makes a story shine and avoid the rubbish collection pile? The growing emergence of AI-regurgitated content is further muddying the waters of content that resonates with audiences – but will human activity always pull through? 

Introducing… journalist and innovation consultant Adi Gaskell 

Joining us for our first in-person podcast is journalist and Forbes contributor Adi Gaskell. With a postgraduate degree in computing and experience working across public and private sectors, he brings a fresh and invigorating take on both media and tech.

Adi describes himself as a “free range human” and writes extensively on subjects such as the future of work and AI, including being the author of The 8 Step Guide to Building a Social Workplace. He also has a particular focus on covering migration and devotes his time to charity endeavours that support the lives of refugees (more on that later). 

The future of work and tech

Adi begins by explaining how he took a “strange route to journalism” before highlighting what he likes about the profession and his passion for constant learning. This segues into sharing what makes him write about a story – in particular, the importance of bringing evidence to the table – and why his go-to resource is academia. 

Over his career, has he found the role of journalism has changed? The trio discuss trends like clickbait, communicating to an audience, ChatGPT (of course), supposedly game-changing innovations that fall flat and why human opinions will prevail. 

The final part of the conversion looks at the future of work and how a lack of levelling up and inequality is still widespread. What stories are being missed in this narrative? This leads into talking about subjects he particularly likes to cover and pieces that connect with audiences: “My mum likes them now and then!” 

Of course, before bringing a close to proceedings, Adi has to take on his fearsome challenger: the CC Quickfire. Do we have a new leader sitting on a perch above the rest? 

Ending on a meaningful note, Adi discusses his work with the charity Breadwinners and the truly amazing work they do with refugees. Get yourself down to Camberwell Green to buy some bread! 

You can listen to the full episode here.