Twenty years ago - everyone got the news from traditional media sources like cable news broadcasts or newspapers. But today, the internet allows people to access the news they want with their fingers. Journalist Kara Swisher joined TheStreet to discuss why she predicted the fall of traditional media, and why it’s too late to go back.
Related: Kara Swisher talks predictions on technology, Facebook, Amazon
Full Video Transcript Below:
SARA SILVERSTEIN: And you did predict that the internet was going to ground media as we knew it into dust. I seems like that was a new shift.
KARA SWISHER: That was a good one.
SARA SILVERSTEIN: And we work in the media space, so you were really right about that.
KARA SWISHER: It's still doing I let me just say, it's not over, but go ahead.
SARA SILVERSTEIN: Well, no. Yeah, that's I was going to say, we need to shift again. What are we still doing wrong? And then we could get to what's happening next with AI but what are we still doing wrong?
KARA SWISHER: I think it's too late. The media doesn't have technological chops that they need to do to beat these companies. At the time they were coming in, a lot of tech media companies. First of all, they thought they'd go away because these valuations wouldn't be sustained. Well, they were. So they had the money to do it right. They have the money and they have the means to do it. And anyone who has the money and the means tends to win in many markets. And one of the things that was interesting to me is I kept saying, I kept referencing the Twilight Zone episode, the very famous one, To Serve Man. And I kept telling these media companies, it's a cookbook. It's not here to help you, it's here to hurt you. It's here to eat you.
And I think it's the same thing with AI. They've got to use every means at their disposal. Cop not cooperate with them. Actually, they're your competitors. They are media, tech companies are media now. And so and they have the money and the means, and they want to eat you. So what can you do? Like with AI, you have copyright ability to sue on copyright. I think you should sue and negotiate and get as much value out of as it can. But handing over your value with, well, they don't have a choice right now because their tech skills are not as high as these tech companies. So again, the big tech companies are owning AI and media is not. And that's a big deal.
SARA SILVERSTEIN: And you called Google the Borg, sucking up all of the information. And it does feel like maybe AI is going to do the same thing.
KARA SWISHER: It's it's search plus. I mean, that's what some internet people are calling it, that it's search plus it's calculator, plus it's more and amplified and better and stronger. So it's the same thing. It's the same story. And how many times can you be Charlie Brown and Lucy and the football? I'm not sure. Many, lots of times. That went on for a while.
