How is artificial intelligence changing our media landscape? SiliconStories in conversation with media scientist Dr Matthias Zehnder

The interview, which was published in April 2025, takes place at the interface of technology, society and responsibility and addresses issues that extend far beyond the tech industry.

Zehnder, who has worked as editor-in-chief of the Coopzeitung and Basellandschaftliche Zeitung newspapers and co-founded the Basel-based online medium Bajour, describes a development that he sees as a structural threat to the open internet: AI systems that act as answer engines are depriving the original content providers - publishers, magazines, specialised portals - of their economic basis. Users receive answers without ever visiting the source. In this context, Zehnder speaks of an AI that is destroying its own foundation.

Zehnder is particularly clear on the subject of social media and social division. When asked what role social media plays in polarisation, he answers with a clear classification: the algorithms of social platforms are designed to amplify content that provokes strong reactions. This alone is enough to ensure that negative and emotional content is systematically favoured. In combination with the lack of editorial gatekeepers and the human tendency to block out contradictory information, this creates a cycle that drives societies apart.

Zehnder emphasises that the algorithm does not specifically select negative content. The mechanism is more subtle: Those who maximise engagement automatically maximise emotion and therefore disproportionately negative emotion. According to Zehnder, fake news spreads up to seven times faster in social media than correct news. The reason is simple: real news is usually simply more boring.

Zehnder describes the power of real encounters as a counter-model to digital escalation. He refers to the medium Bajour in Basel, which he co-founded and which has deliberately established events as an integral part of its media work. In a series of dialogue formats, such as a so-called drug round table, police, social workers, citizens and those affected have been brought together. The result: a constructive dialogue that would not have been possible in purely digital form.

Zehnder sees AI as a powerful tool for the future, but one that requires a person with a clear goal. The intelligence, according to his central message, is not in the computer, but in the computer. The employees who use these tools, with motivation, clarity of purpose and a willingness to take responsibility, are crucial.

"We invited Dr Zehnder because his perspective builds exactly the bridge that is important to us at SiliconStories," says Viktor Fink, Co-Founder and CEO of JOBRIVER. "Technology is not only changing products and markets, it is changing how we communicate, how we evaluate information and how we stick together as a society. These questions belong in the tech discourse."

The discussion also touches on a topic that is becoming increasingly relevant for the recruitment industry: In a working world where AI tools are equally available to all companies, the difference will not be made by the technology itself, but by the people who use it. Finding qualified specialists who are not only technically competent but also take responsibility for the use of these tools is becoming a key task.

The full episode is available on the SiliconStories YouTube channel and on all common podcast platforms.