Word is out already, but here's a write-up about my exciting next chapter... In August 2026, I will join the University of Virginia @UVA as a distinguished professor of AI and Media Studies. I'm truly honored to be named a Jefferson Scholars Foundation professor, allowing me to be part of a unique intellectual community at UVA. I'm also grateful for a final year ahead with my wonderful colleagues at the University of Oregon. Full write-up here: jeffersonscholars.org/news/f…

This is terrifying, honestly.

The rise of Google AI Mode (plus agents) will be a big economic shift for the web—but it's also a huge psychological shift in our relationship to other people on the web. Right now, AI summaries of queries do not send our attention outward to links but rather answer our questions directly by summarizing the material they can consume faster than the user. This will change the economics of the internet because the machine has gone from hunting and gathering (ranking and displaying links to which they send traffic) to serving final meals (summarizing the results). We're seeing AI Mode affect Alphabet earnings, Reddit revenues, and search traffic for publishers. That's already a big story. But I'm also watching now information consumers are being moved up the hierarchy of search: - Bottom rung: Find links in response to search - Next rung up: Generic summary of links (AI) - Next: Encourage me to talk to the AI about the results rather than click any of the below links, so that the AI summary isn't generic but rather tailored to the user who did the search (personalized advanced AI) - Next: Anticipate the next search/prompt and give me the information or product I need before I know I need it (Muse, Instinct, advanced agents) With each rung, the human-to-human interaction of the web (eg, me reading an article by a person) is being intermediated and then finally replaced by a machine that anticipates what I wanted from that human-to-human interaction and serves it up to me, possibly even before I knew that I wanted it.

“Growing up, it was always God, family, and baseball. There were a lot of late nights practicing, a lot of traveling, and sometimes it was hard to get to church. But my parents helped me build a foundation on a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. “I always had a testimony, but I hadn’t read the Book of Mormon all the way through. I believed what my parents told me. They’re really smart, and their testimonies are strong. Then I got drafted, and I thought, ‘All right, I probably need to read this for myself.’ “One of the guys I was drafted with shared my faith. We became roommates and studied the scriptures together. As I read, I received personal revelation. That’s when my testimony really became stronger. I could see Heavenly Father’s hand in putting someone like that in my life. “Reading helped me strengthen my testimony, and living what I believed gave me more opportunities to recognize His hand. “My mom had talked to me about tithing before I even had a job. She told me about the blessings she’d seen and encouraged me to pay it. So I did. As I’ve kept that commitment, I’ve learned that the blessings can be physical, too. For me, being able to play baseball at my best is a blessing I connect directly to paying my tithing. “Playing at an elite level still has its ups and downs. After a good year, I had a rough year. Sometimes you’re asking Heavenly Father, ‘Please help me,’ and you forget how much He’s already helped. Looking back helped me recognize the opportunities and blessings He had already given me. “That same commitment to living my faith carries into how I take care of myself. Living the Word of Wisdom is a choice I made early. I’ve never wanted to drink or smoke. In high school, I watched people try vaping, get addicted, and struggle to stop. I didn’t want to find myself in that situation, and I’m grateful I made that decision before I ever started playing professionally. “So when we were celebrating with the team and there wasn’t any sparkling cider, I opened the fridge, saw some Fanta in glass bottles, and grabbed a couple. I didn’t even want to hold alcohol because I didn’t want to give the impression I was drinking it. Then everybody started sending me pictures of their Fanta. “Reading the Book of Mormon, paying my tithing, and living the Word of Wisdom are commitments I carry with me. As I’ve lived them, the foundation my parents helped me build in the gospel of Jesus Christ has become stronger through my own experiences. “Heavenly Father has really shown His hand in my life.” —Cooper

Update: They found out

It feels more official now that I've been quoted as a professor at the University of Virginia! From a story in today's WaPo: washingtonpost.com/business/… These questions re: AI and news are a key part of our new book, out next month; sign up to read for free: journalism-in-the-age-of-ai.…

My new book, Journalism in the Age of AI, is free and open access — coming August 3. Read the opening chapter today and sign up for early access to the full version → journalismandai.com

AJ Dybantsa on Linkedin expounded on his thank you message to BYU

🚨 New book announcement! For two decades, journalists have been running on a hamster wheel — producing more, faster, with less. AI is speeding that wheel up. But it doesn't have to. @rodzam, Tomás Dodds, and I spent two years writing "Journalism in the Age of AI: From Acceleration to Reimagination," coming later this year and in time for fall classes from Polity — fully open access. Our argument: this is a constitutive moment for journalism — a critical juncture that unsettles how the profession understands its roles, routines, and reasons for being. The question isn't whether AI will change journalism. It's whether journalism will use this disruption to reimagine itself, or simply run faster on the same wheel. In the book, we examine what happens when AI doesn't just do journalism's work but erodes the capacity to do it well, what "Google Zero" means for the future of news, and why the biggest threat may not be AI replacing reporters — but AI making everyone's work sound the same. This is a book about journalism in the age of artificial intelligence — but that's only part of the story. It's also a book about a much larger phenomenon: the rapidly expanding scope and influence of AI, which is transforming how people around the world create, access, and make sense of information. We explore questions of creativity and authorship, platform power and infrastructural capture, public knowledge and democratic accountability, the fate of education and the future of personal empowerment — issues that extend well beyond the newsroom. We wrote it for students, journalists, educators, and anyone trying to make sense of this moment. Much more to share in the weeks ahead — stay tuned!

Recently joined @MedlirM on the Age of AI podcast to discuss the "AI turn" in journalism — a term we have to describe this moment when generative AI challenges foundational assumptions about authorship, creativity, trust, and professional identity. We explore how AI is shifting from backstage technology to active participant in communication, redefining roles, routines, and relationships. What does trust look like in an increasingly synthetic media environment? How do we preserve critical thinking when so much can be outsourced to machines? All the more pressing given the Moltbook craze and the rapid rise of agentic AI. These questions connect to the human-machine communication research we've been doing for years — and they figure prominently in my forthcoming book with Tomás Dodds and Rodrigo Zamith, "Journalism in the Age of AI: From Acceleration to Reimagination" (Polity Press, 2026). 🎧 ageofaipodcast.com/1727342/e…

What's ahead for journalism in 2026? Based on my ongoing research (and forthcoming book!) on AI and journalism with Rodrigo Zamith and Tomás Dodds, I explain why AI is a critical fork-in-the-road moment for journalism's future: “The breaking of the hamster wheel’s fundamental premise — that humans must run it — creates space for reimagining what journalism could be if not organized around acceleration as its governing logic.” niemanlab.org/2025/12/ai-bre… Thanks to @NiemanLab for including this essay as part of its great annual roundup of predictions.

✨ New publication: What actually makes for a "good" news experience? There isn't really a clear normative standard in journalism research for assessing that question. So in this new article, Emmanuel Maduneme and I bring together an approach that bridges journalism studies with UX (user experience) design. We build on Peter Morville's Honeycomb model to argue that for a news experience to be truly "good," it must be: ++ Useful: Does it fulfill specific "jobs-to-be-done"? ++ Usable & Findable: Does it fit into the temporal rhythms and routines of daily life — and facilitate 'movement' through information? ++ Desirable: Does it acknowledge the "emotional turn" in news consumption? ++ Accessible: Is it inclusive in both design and readability? ++ Credible: Does the interface itself signal epistemic authority? ++ Valuable: This is the intersection where it all comes together—user needs combined with public service. Does news create meaningful, sustainable value in people's lives, individually and collectively? At a time when too much emphasis is on engagement metrics, this framework advances the "audience turn" in journalism studies by offering a more holistic understanding of news *experience* and its relative quality. I'm also really proud of Emmanuel for originally developing this paper in my doctoral seminar and seeing it through to this finish line! 📄 Read the full paper here: tandfonline.com/eprint/GX54P…

ONLINE FIRST! This article byEmmanuel Maduneme and @SethCLewis discusses what makes a good #news experience by introducing and elaborating on Morville’s Honeycomb model from #UX studies and applying it to #journalism. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…

I wish that @mckaycoppins didn't have to write this essay.

Our hearts are heavy with sorrow. Millions of us are mourning the passing of our beloved Prophet and President, Russell M. Nelson. He was a dear friend and a cherished leader.    His timeless teachings continue to guide us and help us find comfort amid suffering, especially in the wake of the recent violence aimed at members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Michigan this past Sunday.   The awful tragedy that took place in Grand Blanc, Michigan, on September 28, reminds us of our sacred responsibilities as followers of Jesus Christ. We mourn with our members who have lost loved ones, and we join in prayer for comfort with others around the world who are suffering from similar tragedies.   We all seek answers and understanding in the wake of trauma, shock, and grief. We are grateful to all who are reaching out with service, prayers, and words of support during this difficult time.   May we all remember the truth that each of us is a beloved child of God. Our Savior Jesus Christ, through His infinite Atonement, overcame death and gives us the joyful assurance that each of us will be gloriously resurrected.   On behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I extend this expression to the family and friends of those affected by this recent tragedy and all others who may be experiencing loss and heartache at this time.

Great new piece by collaborator Jacob Nelson. Earlier this year, he and I interviewed 100 Americans, exploring how and why they distrust journalism and other knowledge institutions. We find a deep level of frustration toward news that is bipartisan, against much of the conventional wisdom today that seeks to code this as a 'right' or 'left' problem. That lack of trust in news is less about specific journalists or editorial style and more about a sweeping skepticism toward journalism itself — and largely because of the belief (again, a bipartisan one) that news organizations are too focused on making money. As one of our interviewees told us: “It’s profits over journalism and over truth.” theconversation.com/a-bari-w…

ONLINE FIRST! This commentary by @SethCLewis, @rodzam, & Jon Benedik A. Bunquin argues for taking tech hype in #journalism more seriously as an object of inquiry because it represents something more than mere ephemeral excitement or superficial puffery. ➡️ tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…

Happy to share some big news: I have accepted an offer to join the University of Virginia as the Elcan Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Media Studies. I will start at @UVA in August 2026, after serving one final year in my current role as the Shirley Papé Chair in Emerging Media at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity — to join one of the nation’s top public universities in a newly created endowed chair focused on the social impact of AI, one of the most consequential questions of our time. This position is part of a broader, forward-looking UVa initiative that involves hiring nearly a dozen endowed chairs in AI across the university. I’m thrilled to work with my new colleagues in the Department of Media Studies — and in the larger College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, along with faculty, postdocs, and students around the university — in exploring the wide-ranging social implications, cultural meanings, and ethical quandaries that AI poses for the future of media and journalism, knowledge work and education, and democratic society broadly. To be situated at the heart of this conversation, at a university with UVa’s reach, resources, and reputation, is a chance of a lifetime for which I’m immensely thankful. Also in this role, I am fortunate to be joining the Jefferson Scholars Foundation and its cadre of Distinguished Professors (jeffersonscholars.org/facult…), which will allow me to work closely with student fellows and postdocs across disciplines as part of the foundation’s mission to nurture the intellectual range and depth of the UVa community. To be sure, there are mixed emotions for our family. We deeply cherish this place and its people: so many friends, colleagues, and fellow church members in Eugene/Springfield who have enriched our lives beyond anything we could have imagined when we moved here in 2016. Saying goodbye is hard, yet we trust that it’s the right thing at the right time, and that these friendships and connections will always be with us. Lastly, I wish I could thank personally all of the people who have played a part in making this opportunity a reality. I’m thinking of the many research collaborators — over the course of nearly 20 years now, since my early days as a PhD student at Texas — who have catalyzed my thinking and made my work infinitely better … my former colleagues at Minnesota and Oxford who inspired me at key moments in my career … my current colleagues at Oregon who have been so encouraging and supportive at every turn for nearly a decade now (I’m glad we have one more year together!) … and my future colleagues at Virginia who have welcomed so me warmly and given me an exciting vision of what we can accomplish together in the years ahead. Thank you, all. Here’s to energizing new chapters in our lives! - Seth (and the Lewis family)