……..says AI not threat, only requires regulation
By Chima Azubuike
Publisher, Premium Times and,
CEO, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, Dapo Olorunyomi, says the proliferation of disinformation is inimical to democracy.
Olonrunyomi made this disclosure on Friday in his keynote address; ‘From Attention to Intimacy: Journalism in an Age of Artificial Intelligence’, at the Amplify In-depth Media Conference and the 18th Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting.
Our correspondent reports that the multi-panel event was a collaborative effort of representatives of the Media and Journalism (MAJ) cohort of the MacArthur Foundation.
According to Olonrunyomi, accountability Journalism matters, adding that without it democracy can hardly triumph.
He said, “Information disorder is thus a twin spear at the heart of the modern democratic order: it sought to discredit the ontology of journalism regarding the veracity of information, and, by refraction, seized the attention principle upon which the business of advertising is erected to weaponise falsehood and convert it into a commodity.
“The question then for us now is whether democracy is possible in an age of information disorder. Whichever way we look at this, at the level of journalism it has become imperative that all modern newsrooms incorporate regular fact checking regimes to reinforce the factual integrity of their journalism even as they try to debunk policy, politics, statistical, health and environmental falsehoods that pervades the land.
“Broader outreach at media and digital literacy, and fact checking have become the front stage in the battle for the preservation of the integrity of journalism and the spirit of democracy. Implementing these campaigns also need to be urgent with the staging outpost being early school age to the prime of adulthood in all segments of society. Journalism schools must also be ahead in this battle knowing that we need to graduate students who are skilled in media/digital literacy as well as in fact checking and verification competencies.”
Decrying the challenges of disinformation to the existence of democracy, Olonrunyomi noted that Journalism and democracy are inseparable.
“Yet the scarcity of trustworthy information is not merely a matter of democracy, and viable development for individuals and peoples, but an urgent and sensible public health matter where the violation of such liberties has deadly results. No time than the COVID years brought this out so forcefully on a global scale, just as the people of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia came to appreciate during the Ebola era,” he added.
While commenting on Artificial Intelligence, Olorunyomi noted that it only required to be regulated in order to tap from it huge benefits in health, climate change.
Olorunyomi said, “Nothing in the arguments so far have suggested that AI will not bring exponential value to human progress. In medicine, climate crisis, food and poverty alleviation, AI can make a new world of promise, but we need purposive human intervention and action.
“This needs local, national, and international action and journalists must be ahead of the pack. Journalists need to help demand thorough safety checks before powerful AI tools are released into the public domain. Just as a food and drinks as well as pharmaceutical company cannot release new products before testing their side-effects, we should also make similar demands on tech companies.”
Speaking earlier in a welcome address,
Executive Director of Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism Motunrayo Alaka, stated that speakers totally no fewer than 47 speakers were carefully selected to tackle various issues around Independent media equation: policies, ownership, technology and sustainability.
She said, “Moreover, now more than ever, the Fourth Estate must rise to the task of handling the delicate balance of deploying technology while interrogating its intrusive nature and its capacity to enable misinformation, and disinformation, which erode the credibility of the media at an unimaginable scale. On the other hand, we are under real-time pressure to pursue sustainable strategies. The financial viability of journalism is not optional. It is existential. The media must adopt innovative techniques and explore frameworks that allow it to thrive.
“Notwithstanding the threats to the environment of the media, we must find, harness, and manage the opportunities, deal with the weaknesses we have allowed to fester and maximise our strengths.”
