> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.onthetrail.info/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # On the Trail @ the CBC talking about AI - URL: https://www.onthetrail.info/latest/on-the-trail-the-cbc-talking-about-ai/ - Published: 2026-10-22T15:55:52.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-22T15:55:52.000Z - Description: Here's a wonderful radio hit by journalist Boshko Maric, who invited me on to speak with him about AI and journalism - Author: Isaac Peltz I was honoured to be invited on to CBC Montreal last week to discuss agentic AI in journalism, and AI's effect on journalism in general. Boshko Maric had a wild experience where he was pitched a story by an AI agent, who wanted the CBC to publish a (terrible) story that it had written. Boshko conversed with this AI about its capacity to report, and even asked whether or not it could get some good quotes in person. The AI said that it doesn't have a body and therefore cannot get quotes. Talking about AI doing things like this is pertinent right now, considering our [report yesterday](https://www.onthetrail.info/latest/unions-and-third-parties-question-carneys-commitment-to-bilingualism/) where the government is laying off translators to replace them with AI. [By the way, there was a report this morning in Radio-Canada about how the federal government's AI translators have had serious errors.](https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2294793/bureau-traduction-ia-erreurs-gouvernement-federal?ref=onthetrail.info) It was almost a perfect capstone to our reporting. AI isn't able to do what humans can, and replacing labourers with it will lead to some serious consequences. Maric sent me the report that the AI had wrote. It was laughable. We had a conversation about that, and I talked about the need to maintain institutions, and how AI has flooded so much of the internet that we can't even be aware of whether or not we're quoting AI because of how much of the internet is being flooded with AI slop. I also appreciated that Maric published the part where I said "objectivity doesn't exist," and that we need to "stop patronizing" the public. These are great things to publish. The CBC obviously edited it down, but I wanted to share it with all of you anyways. I personally see this as an opportunity to bring back good journalist– the solution to AI nonsense is to fund the CBC, fund newsrooms, and get journalists out everywhere. A healthy, aggressive media is the greatest counterbalance to corruption and power. [Here's the link to our conversation,](https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-383-lets-go/clip/16244495-pt.-ii-what-happens-ai-agents-pitch-newsrooms?ref=onthetrail.info) and below is the transcript (edited for fluid reading). The full report is fantastic, and was broken into two parts, so if you want to listen to this great reporting, please check out [part I](https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-383-lets-go/clip/16244235-pt.-i-what-happens-ai-agents-pitch-newsrooms?ref=onthetrail.info), and then [part II](https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-383-lets-go/clip/16244495-pt.-ii-what-happens-ai-agents-pitch-newsrooms?ref=onthetrail.info) (where you'll hear me!) [Help fund real journalism, not AI. If every person subscribed gave $3 a month, we'd be able to hire two more full time journalists.](#/portal/signup) --- **BOSHKO** I spoke to Isaac Peltz. They are an independent journalist based in Montreal, and they publish work in a number of different outlets, which means that they're used to sending out these kinds of pitches, just like the agent did. And I should say before I bring their voice into this conversation, that Isaac is very transparent about their stance on AI. They don't use it in any capacity to write or edit or any creative work. Now, I showed Isaac the story. They weren't too concerned about the quality of the reporting this AI produced. For people who listened to our conversation yesterday, you'll remember that piece. It was barely even a story. **SABRINA** The quality was not there. **BOSHKO** No, it wasn't anywhere near what a human reporter could do right now. So there weren't any direct concerns about how that could potentially take over humans doing journalism. But Isaac did raise a very interesting point about when these AI agents become more ubiquitous, they're reaching out to editors all the time, how that could change behaviour for the editors themselves. **ISAAC** Imagine you're an editor and you take pitches and you're at an independent journal, an independent magazine, and you want freelancers who have talent to pitch you. Well, now you're gonna stop trusting in those pitches. Even though that's how we've functioned for a decade or two with pitches– now you're like, "Well, the likelihood of this being AI is much higher." And so you're less likely to look at it, and you're less likely to accept a pitch. It also adds into question, "Well, did this person write this pitch with AI?" Especially with the advent of people using AI to write all of their emails. **SABRINA** Boshko, did the two of you talk about how this kind of AI could affect the journalism industry more generally? **BOSHKO** Yeah, we had a really interesting conversation about that, and Isaac talked about how Canadians' trust in media institutions is eroding. They quoted a Reuters survey on Canadians' media consumption habits from this year that proves that it's not necessarily because of AI, but AI is certainly not helping the situation. Its prevalence is something that journalists like Isaac have to contend with every day. **ISAAC** We have the problem where journalists who are like me, who stand firmly against AI, even we don't know when we're quoting something that is AI because there's so much of it, because AI is flooding every part of the internet. **BOSHKO** But Isaac looks at this as more of an opportunity to more robustly fund dailies and bigger news organizations that have the resources to do real journalism and break stories, and for those in the industry to focus more on the things that we can do better than AI agents. **ISAAC** In order to counter the total control and overwhelming inundation of AI writing everywhere and AI slop everywhere, the only choice is to get back on the field, to re-fund, to bring money back into newsrooms, and send journalists outside to talk to people in person and get stories for real. **BOSHKO** And I thought that was a very interesting point because it kind of speaks directly to one of my own interactions with the agent. If you remember when I asked it to include some quotes from stakeholders in this story, it replied literally saying that it doesn't have a body and therefore cannot do any field reporting. Isaac also talked about the idea of objectivity, how newsrooms should take advantage of the fact that it is an inherently human concept and use it to separate themselves from AI. **ISAAC** If we want to rebuild trust in the media, we need to stop patronizing people, we need to be more blunt, and we need to be more expressive about the fact that objectivity is false. There's no such thing as objectivity, and there's no such thing as unbiased reporting. Every single reporter has opinion. Every single media newsroom has kind of an angle that they tend to take, and being more honest about that, being more straightforward about biases and, and blind spots, would significantly improve trust. --- [Fund real journalism, not AI](#/portal/signup) I highly recommend listening to [part I](https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-383-lets-go/clip/16244235-pt.-i-what-happens-ai-agents-pitch-newsrooms?ref=onthetrail.info), and [part II](https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-383-lets-go/clip/16244495-pt.-ii-what-happens-ai-agents-pitch-newsrooms?ref=onthetrail.info), I think Maric is an excellent reporter and nailed this. It raises so many questions, and ties directly into our story from yesterday. AI is not ready to be deployed like this. Today, Wall Street lost a ton of money because people are pulling their money out of AI investments. AI has delivered on none of its promises, and people are noticing. Thank you to Boshko, and I hope you all have a great day.