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When Laura Stevens 麻豆精品 S�04 moved to New York City barely a year ago, the pace didn 麻豆精品 S檛 faze her. Stevens had kept in step with the perpetually moving world of technology as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal and as an editor for The Washington Post before being named deputy technology editor for The New York Times. The pursuit began after she graduated from UCF in 2004 and has taken her to stops in Arkansas, Germany, Atlanta and 麻豆精品 S� for seven years prior to moving to New York 麻豆精品 S� the heartbeat of technology: Silicon Valley.

麻豆精品 S淭his kind of news never stops, 麻豆精品 S� says Stevens, a journalism alum. Every day, her reporting teams dig into rumors about tech before they become news 麻豆精品 S� the on-again, off-again ban of TikTok, for example. 麻豆精品 S淲e have a huge responsibility to know what 麻豆精品 S檚 happening behind the scenes because when technology changes, it affects all of us. 麻豆精品 S�

That 麻豆精品 S檚 why she keeps her eyes and ears on leads about social platforms, streaming services, e-commerce, bots, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence (AI). For a few minutes, she pauses long enough to tell us about the most significant tech news she sees on the horizon, and the path from UCF to NYC she 麻豆精品 S檒l never forget.

“We have a huge responsibility to know what’s happening behind the scenes because when technology changes, it affects all of us.”

On Wanting to Be a Meteorologist

Before going to UCF, I thought a career in meteorology would be聽interesting.聽Then聽I聽found out聽about the聽颁补濒肠耻濒耻蝉听滨滨滨 requirement.聽Around that time,聽I聽heard a reporter from The Wall Street Journal at a conference say,聽 麻豆精品 S淏usiness聽reporting聽is the most challenging type of journalism聽because you have to take something dry and make it interesting. 麻豆精品 S� I 麻豆精品 S檝e always liked challenges, so that sounded attractive.聽The challenges still motivate me.

On How She Created a Minor in Tourism Journalism at UCF

Journalism majors聽were allowed to聽develop their own specialties. Being in Orlando, I thought the business side of聽hospitality聽would聽make sense聽as a minor.聽When I graduated,聽we were聽coming聽out of the dotcom bust and聽it looked like new technology was going聽to change our lives.聽That 麻豆精品 S檚 where my career path聽 麻豆精品 S� and my curiosity 麻豆精品 S斅爈ed聽me.

On the Biggest Tech Questions That Loom Over Everyone

We 麻豆精品 S檙e reporters and editors, but we 麻豆精品 S檙e also consumers, so we have the same concerns about technology as everyone else. The big ones are, 麻豆精品 S淗ow is my personal information being used? 麻豆精品 S� and 麻豆精品 S淲ill AI kill us? 麻豆精品 S� I 麻豆精品 S檝e posed various forms of the AI question to tech leaders and their range of perspectives, good and bad, is fascinating. At the end of the day, let 麻豆精品 S檚 just say I 麻豆精品 S檓 hopeful about the future. That said, it 麻豆精品 S檚 critical that we keep asking about AI. Will it take jobs? How do you know when to trust it? What about the proliferation of deep fakes? To me, it 麻豆精品 S檚 an exciting challenge to find the truth.

On the Importance of Reporters on the Tech Beat

We have journalists in time zones around the world covering specific topics of interest 麻豆精品 S� personal technology, education and tech, X (formerly known as Twitter) and AI. When I lived on the West Coast, I 麻豆精品 S檇 be up at 5 a.m. to get a jump on whatever was happening on the East Coast and across the Atlantic. Now that I 麻豆精品 S檓 in New York, there 麻豆精品 S檚 still no such thing as a typical day. Anything can happen at any hour of the day or night. That 麻豆精品 S檚 what drives us as reporters: being curious and never assuming there 麻豆精品 S檚 such a thing as the status quo.

On Her Personal Investigation of Amazon in its Early Days

I helped cover Amazon during the company 麻豆精品 S檚 earliest ambitions to compete with UPS and FedEx as a delivery service. As part of my reporting, I 麻豆精品 S檇 test Amazon 麻豆精品 S檚 product offerings. One time, out of curiosity, I ordered a Dead Sea salt mask. When it arrived, I looked at the ingredients and saw it was made with corn starch, which made me look closer at some of the quality issues at Amazon, including the possibility of counterfeit products and other deeper investigative targets. Amazon has greatly improved its quality control methods since then.

On the Most Important People She’s Covered

We talk with senior executives at the world 麻豆精品 S檚 biggest tech companies 麻豆精品 S� Jeff Bezos among them. But the people who leave the biggest impression are not among the rich and famous. My first job out of college was with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, where I investigated the fallout from shale fracking on smaller communities. People invited me into their homes where I saw the effects on everyday lives, including faucets catching on fire. The story became a voice for those people. I 麻豆精品 S檝e never forgotten.

On Where Technology Will Take Us Next

We can plan stories, but we can 麻豆精品 S檛 predict them. In January 2020 we thought the biggest story of the year would be tech regulation 麻豆精品 S� and two months later the world shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We didn 麻豆精品 S檛 see it coming when Elon Musk announced his plan to buy Twitter. So at the moment we 麻豆精品 S檙e following. what happens next with TikTok and how AI will impact our everyday lives. The only prediction I can make is that more surprises in technology are coming and we 麻豆精品 S檒l be right there as they come.