Tolokolnikov expressed confidence in the indispensability of AI journalists

Alexander Tolokolnikov, Managing Director of Zen, on June 6 at the session "New Media, Advertising and Communications: how new technologies are changing business" at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026) told how Zen uses artificial intelligence (AI) to develop the platform and why human expertise remains a key value for the audience.

"We see our role as a platform in providing modern technologies to authors and media as seamlessly and conveniently as possible. Not to fight AI, but to help publishers work more efficiently with these tools," Tolokolnikov said.

According to him, against the background of the growth of AI content, the demand for an author's view is increasing. For example, the "Opinions" format in Zen, where journalists and experts comment on news, has grown fivefold on the platform since the beginning of 2026. Tolokolnikov emphasized that AI can be an editorial tool, but it does not replace the position, style and expertise of the author. He also focused on the monetization of copyrighted content in the age of AI.

"It is important for AI products to find a sustainable model for working with professional content. A scenario in which technologies use materials from authors and the media without an understandable reward system cannot be long-term: such a model disrupts the balance of the entire media ecosystem. Platforms cannot develop separately from the authors and editors they work with," Tolokolnikov said.

According to him, one of the tasks of the market is to determine where the well—known information ends and the exclusive contribution of the author or editorial staff begins. Zen plans to offer the market an approach to this model after additional study.

"Our goal is not to replace humans, but to create a fast and accurate AI—based assistant."

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