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Rethinking How We Read the News
We’re at a turning point in how people discover, interpret, and trust the news. During my time leading design for the new People magazine app, I pushed deeply into emerging AI tools—leveraging our partnership with OpenAI—to accelerate research, build faster, and explore new models for reader engagement. The app went on to become #1 in the App Store, validating both the need and the opportunity to rethink news experiences through AI .
Since then, I’ve been using AI as a sketching partner—a way to rapidly test ideas without the burden of production-level fidelity. My goal is simple: help readers make sense of the world with more context, more transparency, and more agency. The following prototypes explore what a more intelligent, reader-centered news ecosystem could look like.
NewsWise: Understanding the Language of the New
As an anthropology student, I’ve long been fascinated by how language shapes perception. NewsWise is a sentiment and framing analysis tool designed to surface the metaphors, tone, and persuasive devices news outlets deploy across the political spectrum. It lets readers instantly understand how a story is being framed—not just what it says .
InContext: Putting the Story in Historical Perspective
Most readers hit a wall when they realize they lack the historical background to fully understand a breaking story. InContext is a Chrome extension that automatically surfaces relevant historical timelines, precedents, and related events. It’s designed to make today’s news intelligible by connecting it to what came before .
CredCheck: Trust Through Transparency
Trust in media is fragile. CredCheck helps rebuild it by giving readers instant context on journalists—their past work, areas of expertise, retractions, and credibility signals. It’s a lightweight layer of transparency designed to restore confidence in the byline .
NewsAction: Turning Concern into Impact
Often, the emotional experience of reading the news ends in helplessness. NewsAction flips that script by analyzing an article and suggesting actionable ways to respond—donations, volunteer opportunities, or civic actions tied directly to the topic at hand. It turns empathy into something operational and empowering .
Counterpoint: Seeing the Other Side
Polarization thrives on isolation. Counterpoint shows readers how the same story is being framed by ideologically different outlets. It’s not about forcing balance—it’s about helping readers make informed judgments by widening the aperture of what they see .
Why Sketch with AI?
AI speeds up exploration. Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, NotebookLM, Figma Make, Glide, and Builder.io allow for rapid cycles of research → synthesis → prototype that would have taken weeks just a few years ago. These prototypes are intentionally rough—they’re “just enough” to test, debate, and iterate before committing resources to build .
The future of news won’t be defined by a single feature or app. It will be defined by systems that help people understand, trust, and act. Sketching with AI is my way of accelerating us toward that future.