We are using AI to map how the world's media uses AI
PLUS Can you REALLY make an app in a few hours with AI?
I remember when my PC began to search the actual words inside my Word documents rather than just the titles of my files… it was a complete game changer. It felt like this evolution in search would solve all of my life’s problems. But now, decades later, I just feel like I am drowning in Zoom call recordings and endless WhatsApp group images. The most exciting part of the AI revolution, for me, is that we will finally have order and insights from all this data we have been collecting.
When it comes to training news organisations in how to use AI, I have seen a huge gap in using AI technology to document their AI journeys and produce insights based on their data for how they can do better. We needed a platform which could map the AI adoption of newsrooms globally and this platform is now a reality. We have created it at Develop AI and it is called MediaMap.
At the heart of MediaMap is a chat interface where you talk to an AI assistant about your media business. MediaMap will ask you questions and try to get to the bottom of how you are using AI in your newsroom. There is also the opportunity to upload documents and scrape websites.
The platform then takes all this information about your organisation and runs it through ChatGPT with an added knowledge base and expert prompting to track important metrics on how your business is dealing with AI.
And when you have given the platform enough information you can trigger it to generate insights for how you should improve your business going forward. It will advise you on what goals to prioritise and why. The more you chat to MediaMap then the better its insights.
There is also a heavy Admin section inside MediaMap where Develop AI can see the chats, inputs and feedback from all the different users. This, in turn, will help improve the platform and allow us to build better, more targeted AI courses.
A cute addition is that we have added a world map tab so organisations can insert themselves onto the map and also see where other organisations in the network are based. Because truly, the goal of the project is mapping the media’s AI adoption and proficiency, but also to act as an AI knowledge sharing platform across multiple continents.
MediaMap is in Beta. Let me know if you are a news organisation that would be happy to use it and give helpful feedback so we can create the best experience possible.
How to code with AI
Our MediaMap project has tied neatly into my fascination with the no-code phenomenon which is naturally enticing but whiffs of snake oil. So, for the MediaMap project I thought it would be worth trying it with a selection of no-code platforms. After reading plenty of reviews I arrived at Bolt and the initial pitch is ridiculous: you can write a prompt and it will build you an app.
First, the bad: by working the chatbot hard for an afternoon I fully burned through my $20 of credits allocated to me for the month. The cash ran out just as the app completely filled with errors and crashed forcing me to “top-up” with extra credits. Next, pinpointing an error is easy, but fixing it economically in a no-code environment is similar to asking ChatGPT to make a very specific change to an image. It’s very tough to get the exact response that you want. You give a prompt to fix an error and it regenerates a whole section of code from scratch, fixing the error perhaps, but then deleting a different feature that you were perfectly happy with. This combined with the financial limits laid out in talking to the bot can result in a pretty frustrating experience.
The exciting part is as you click on your new app’s buttons, the bot finds faults and politely informs you how they are being fixed. This makes you feel like you are in the future. However, you may never come to the end of the faults that need to be fixed…
Second, the good: it truly is remarkable how you can, in a few hours, knock together a prototype. I would say 50% of the features won’t fully work, but the general feel will be conveyed. On the app’s design: it can be crisp and professional, however, you can’t be overly fussy. Asking to move a logo or button an inch to the left can destroy a whole sidebar in the process. You are not encouraged to look at the code, though it is accessible on a separate tab as it is being written by AI at lightening speed.
When my patience was reached and I sensed more dollars would be needed to fix all the faults, I exported my code into Cursor (which I have raved about continuously in this newsletter). This platform is “AI Code” rather than “no-code” and by comparison feels deeply technical. This is where you have a chatbot that you ask for snippets of code and you export them into your master codebase, chunk by chunk. With Cursor you pay a subscription, but chatting with the bot is unlimited.
When using Cursor you need to have a better idea of what code and apps can do, and using it can gradually teach you the basics of coding by osmosis, while platforms like Bolt are encouraging you to think BIG and learn nothing, like you are an ad exec from the 80s.
My verdict on no-code is: in another year this could be incredible. You can throw up your basic idea with these platforms in a way that is magical, but getting the app functional without diving into the code (they gracefully offer editing as “free”) is impossible.
For MediaMap, once I got it into Cursor and downloaded a bunch of necessary Python packages I could fire the app up in Chrome and start to dig into the errors in a more methodical way. This hybrid option is still the route to go for coding with AI in 2025.
If you would like more info on MediaMap and its potential, get in touch.
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What AI was used in creating this newsletter?
The main image was lovingly created with ChatGPT. The rest are actual screenshots from our MediaMap app.
What is happening at Develop AI?
We are deeply engaged in building a whole set of different AI courses at the moment which will take Develop AI all around the world.
We are also performing free outreach “Coding with AI for Beginners” courses in the Cape Town area. This is for people who are unemployed and looking to upskill themselves. I’ll keep you updated on how that takes shape.
See you next week. All the best,
Develop Al is an innovative consulting and training company that creates AI strategies for businesses & newsrooms so they can implement AI effectively.
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