Host Jeremy C. Park interviews Andrew Bartolotta, Director of Digital Media at cityCURRENT and Co-Host of the cityCURRENT show, who talks about AI technology and its applications. Andrew explains his role as Director of Digital Media at cityCURRENT, where he is responsible for creating, distributing, and amplifying stories about businesses, nonprofits, and leaders making positive impacts in the Mid-South, Middle Tennessee, and beyond. He describes how the small team of five handles approximately 300 events, numerous philanthropic initiatives and the production of television and radio shows by leveraging technology, including AI, to help manage high-volume content creation and distribution. Andrew discusses how cityCURRENT uses AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude for tasks like drafting, researching, and creating content that can be used across multiple platforms.
Andrew discusses the rapid growth and adoption of AI tools, highlighting that ChatGPT recently reached 1 billion monthly users, while Claude grew 640% in the past year. He compares different AI platforms, describing Claude as “Dr. Claude” – a more sophisticated cousin to ChatGPT that provides well-sourced information in a more elegant format. Andrew notes that 79% of ChatGPT users also pay for Claude, indicating people are using multiple AI tools for different purposes rather than choosing one platform exclusively.
He explains how AI is becoming infrastructure in daily life, similar to how social media permeated society. He highlights the significance of having large language models like ChatGPT or Claude directly integrated into consumer devices, particularly mentioning the potential impact of Apple Intelligence with LLMs. Andrew also notes practical applications of AI tools for tasks such as managing personal schedules.
Andrew discusses how AI is increasingly integrated into various aspects of business operations, including meeting notes, process improvement, and creativity. He highlights the benefits of using AI for meeting transcription and task prioritization within cityCURRENT’s team. Andrew also shares examples of AI applications in different industries, such as analyzing point-of-sale data to optimize menu items and sales strategies for restaurants.
Andrew and Jeremy discuss the broad applications of AI in business, including process improvement, creativity, and finance. Andrew expresses optimism about AI while highlighting important concerns such as data privacy, bias in AI systems, and the need for regulation to keep pace with technology development. They emphasize the importance of informed caution and maintaining human judgment in AI workflows. Andrew shares information about cityCURRENT and his social media presence for those interested in learning more.
Visit https://citycurrent.com to learn more about cityCURRENT and connect with Andrew Bartolotta on social media using the handle, @andrewjpg.
