Jonathan Roberts spent years studying dark matter and the origins of the universe. Now, he’s tackling another intractable problem: How to keep artificial-intelligence tools from cannibalizing the publishing industry.
Publishers have faced declining traffic for years, but AI-powered search engines and chatbots are accelerating the demise of a business long reliant on clicks and ad revenue. As chief innovation officer at Barry Diller’smagazine publishing company People Inc., Roberts is charged with reimagining the media business for an AI era.
While leading business strategy for People-owned titles including Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living, he has become a prominent voice in an industry struggling to protect itself from crawlers that suck up content without compensation, while retaining audiences. Reddit, POLITICO and others have weighed whether to continue working with Google because traffic has declined so steeply.
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