The Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Malam Ali Muhammad Ali has urged the media to leverage the opportunities provided by Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transform its service delivery in the modern era.
In his address this morning (Monday, October 14) in Urumqi, China, at the ongoing sixth edition of the World Media Summit, with the theme, “Artificial Intelligence and Media Transformation,” Malam Ali also warned that the media must put in place safeguards to check the negative effects of the use of AI.
Noting that AI has become a matter of absorbing interest across the globe, the NAN MD said: “Just like the social media insidiously ate into our operations decades ago, the global media family is once again faced with the behemoth of Artificial Intelligence that is gradually defining our very existence.
”Across the globe, Artificial Intelligence has today permeated our everyday life.
”The spectre of what Artificial Intelligence can do in the light of current developments is better imagined.”
According to the NAN MD, AI is already revolutionising the way the media conducts its business, citing the gains of AI in media operations to include automated journalism in which AI-powered tools generate news articles, sports reports and financial updates.
Ali also said AI could be used in analysing audience engagement as well as suggesting improvements to headline images and article structure, adding that AI could be used to streamline video editing and colour correction and sound design.
Warning, however, of the downsides of AI, the NAN chief said putting in place adequate safeguards has become imperative.
“Only some months ago, I was in Copenhagen, Denmark, to attend the World Media Congress, and I was drawn to a particular session on Artificial Intelligence.
”We were exposed to two video clips of former President Donald Trump of the United States speaking at a forum—-one original and the other deep fake.
“Virtually all of us gathered there could not distinguish the original from the fake.
”For me and my colleagues gathered in that room, it was a learning curve as we were taken through the nuances of detecting what was real and what was fake,” Malam Ali said.
He also drew attention to job losses due to automation and the danger of fake news and disinformation which AI-generated content could help spread.
To tackle this, he said NAN is working with sister global agencies on policies, processes and programmes to distill contents, explaining that this is with a view to identifying toxic materials unsuitable for publication.
“The outcomes of such gatekeeping initiatives have had a far reaching and profound impact on the credibility of our copies and the sustainability of our editorial operations,” he said.
He commended the organisers of the summit for choosing the theme, saying the outcome would define the operations of the global media in the years to come.
NAN reports that at the fifth edition of the World Media Summit in Guangzhou, China, in December 2023, Ali had spoken on “Bolstering Confidence: Media’s Role in Promoting Human Development and Security. ”
