#307: AI Does (and Does Not) Work for Data Storytelling

There's a version of this episode where AI replaces the data visualization expert entirely, and there's a version where it's useless without one. Neither is quite right, according to Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic of Storytelling with Data, who joined Tim, Moe, and Julie to sort out where AI genuinely earns its keep in data storytelling and where it's just producing a shinier first draft of the same shitty slide. Cole-admittedly a skeptic-turned-convert who once joked she'd retire before having to deal with any of this-walks through why the humans who benefit most from AI are the ones who already have the foundation to know when to ignore it, why "let me look at some options" beats "give me the final chart" as a prompt, and why the analog, pencil-and-paper parts of the process might be the most valuable friction in the whole workflow. Bring your own opinions on whether Claude should ever be handed "the rules" and told to just go.

This episode is brought to you, in part, by our sponsors, Prism from Ask-Y and Stape.

For complete show notes, including links to items mentioned in this episode and a transcript of the show, visit the show page: https://analyticshour.io/2026/09/29/307-ai-does-and-does-not-work-for-data-storytelling/