St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s David Carson on photojournalism and AI’s double-edged sword

David Carson has been a staff photojournalist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch since 2000 and covered events from New York City during 9/11, presidential debates and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. His photos are featured in the staff’s 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography and received a regional Emmy award in 2008. Most recently, he was a 2024-2025 John S. Knight journalism fellow at Stanford University, studying the impacts, both good and bad, of artificial intelligence on photojournalism and potential solutions for increasing public trust.  In this episode, Carson talks about the trajectory of his career to the present, analyzing AI’s increased presence and threat to journalistic integrity. From detection tools to ethical considerations, he explains how the power of AI can and should be harnessed for good.  Find The Lead podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts at the link in bio. bit.ly/m/coxinstitute Guest: David Carson, staff photojournalist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2024-2025 John S. Knight journalism fellow at Stanford University Host: Caroline Newbern