People Inc.'s innovation chief Jonathan Roberts, a physicist who drew maps for George R.R. Martin, now battles publishers’ AI wars. After years studying dark matter, he tackles how to keep AI tools from cannibalizing the publishing industry.

Publishers face decades of traffic decline, but AI‑powered search engines and chatbots accelerate a demise that once relied on clicks and ad revenue. As chief innovation officer at Barry Diller’s magazine publishing company People Inc., Roberts reimagines the media business for an AI era.

Leading strategy for titles like Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living, he is a prominent voice in an industry struggling to protect itself from crawlers that harvest content without compensation, while holding audiences. Reddit, Politico and others weigh whether to continue working with Google as traffic plunges.

Roberts said, “The media industry is a growth driver for the AI economy, and those that tear it down—those that are stealing IP—are hurting growth.” His mission is to balance innovation with preservation of publisher value.