AI training is an absolute must
Originally published on Global Voices
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Photo of African Union media fellows, used with permission.
- In an interview with Global Voices, African journalists shared their views on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism on this continent.
- Over the past few decades, the developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have transformed the journalism profession. In addition to basic internet usage and a plethora of social networks, artificial intelligence is now making inroads into journalism. ChatGPT, ZeroGPT, DALL-E, new/s/leak, Midjourney, and Audemic are just some of the tools that all journalists should be aware of.
- However, Africa remains the least connected region in the world. While countries like Saudi Arabia, Sweden, and South Korea all have internet penetration rates of over 90 percent, this only reaches 50 percent in Africa, where the digital divide is most apparent. The infrastructure is often outdated, connection costs remain high in some countries and imported technologies are not adapted to suit African circumstances. According to the results of a Cable.co.uk study published on Statista, this continent has five of the ten countries in the world (São Tomé and Principe, Botswana, Togo, the Seychelles and Namibia) where 1GB of internet data costs more than USD 20.
- On the other hand, the internet can fuel the disinformation phenomenon, especially in Africa.
During the Second African Media Convention held in Lusaka, Zambia on May 11 to 13, 2023, by UNESCO and the African Union (AU), African journalists discussed the intrusion of artificial intelligence in their profession. They also discussed media sustainability and the on this continent.
To mark the 30-year anniversary of the #WPFD, Our #AUMediaFellows joined over 300 African editors, journalists and media stakeholders at the #AMC2023 to shape a future of journalism ,by addressing rights of journalists in the age of Pre-Trained Transformed AI. #AUMediaFellowship pic.twitter.com/E4hR4v5bqm
— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) May 16, 2023
Some participants, including a group of African Union media fellows, agreed to share their views with Global Voices. The African Union Media Fellowship is a program launched by this continental body and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in 2022. It aims to better equip journalists and content creators to be able to tell stories about Africa beyond the conflicts and crises
AI should not replace the primary role of journalists
Although AI undoubtedly helps save time, select topics based on algorithms, sort information in record time, and generate graphs, amongst other such functions, all media professionals should make moderate use of AI in their profession. Nigerian journalist for the Daily Trust, Afeez Hanafi, explains:
L'IA est un outil très pertinent pour le journalisme et je pense que chaque journaliste devrait l'adopter pour améliorer son travail. Notez que j'ai dit “améliorer”, ce qui signifie que l'IA ne remplace pas et ne devrait pas remplacer le rôle premier d'un journaliste, qui est de rassembler des faits à l'aide de sources fiables et de reportages sur le terrain. Elle offre des moyens multidimensionnels d'utiliser l'IA et le journalisme de données pour amplifier la narration et produire les impacts souhaités.
AI is a very useful tool in journalism, and I think all journalists should use it to improve their work. Note that I said “improve” here. This means that AI does not and should not replace the primary role of journalists, which is to gather facts from reliable sources and field reports. There are multidimensional ways of using AI and data journalism to amplify a story and achieve the desired impact.
According to Amira Sayed, Head of Department at the Egyptian Gazette, technologies like AI have radically changed the media landscape, thus having both a positive and negative impact.
En ce qui concerne l'aspect positif de l'utilisation de l'intelligence artificielle, elle facilite la collecte d'informations et de données sur certains sujets, la manière de les rendre plus accrocheuses en utilisant la visualisation des données et d'autres outils de l'intelligence artificielle. Vous pouvez créer un podcast en utilisant l'IA. Cela facilite donc le rôle des médias. Cependant il y a un impact négatif en ce qui concerne la diffusion des stéréotypes. Par exemple, si vous demandez à l'IA de collecter des informations sur l'Afrique, elle aura certains types d'études liés à l'Afrique et aux clauses traditionnelles de l'Afrique (…).
With regard to the positive impact of the use of artificial intelligence, it facilitates data and information collection on certain subjects and how to make it more eye-catching by using data visualization and other artificial intelligence tools. You can create podcasts using AI, thus facilitating the role of the media. However, there is also a negative impact, involving the dissemination of stereotypes. For example, if you ask AI to collect information on Africa, it will have certain types of studies associated with Africa and traditional African clauses (…).
AI training is a must for journalists
It would therefore be unwise for media professionals to throw themselves into using AI without first having formal training. An introduction is a must, as Sayed points out:
En tant que journalistes et professionnels des médias, nous devons maîtriser les nouvelles technologies. En plus de la presse écrite, les médias numériques sont désormais au premier plan. Aujourd'hui, les gens ont tendance à préférer regarder une vidéo plutôt que de lire un article. Il est donc très important de savoir comment utiliser au mieux ces technologies, surtout l'IA, pour améliorer la qualité de son travail.
As journalists and media professionals, we must embrace new technologies. Besides print media, digital media now occupy a primary place. Today, people would rather watch videos than read articles. It’s therefore very important to know how to optimally use these technologies, especially AI, to improve the quality of our work.
While the first two individuals have mixed views on this matter, Rwandan journalist and founder of Rwanda Post, Johnson Kanamugire, is emphatic about one thing: AI raises ethical concerns.
Je n'utilise pas l'IA pour créer. Tout auteur qui l'utilise devrait faire savoir aux lecteurs que l'outil a contribué au contenu qu'il produit, et dans quelle mesure. Je dis cela parce que les outils d'IA ont des défauts en ce qui concerne les droits d'auteur du contenu qu'ils génèrent, qu'ils reproduisent des schémas biaisés et qu'ils se trompent dans leurs prédictions sur un certain nombre de choses. Certains outils d'IA ne peuvent être utilisés par les journalistes que pour effectuer des recherches ou pour analyser d'énormes volumes de données. Les utilisateurs devraient toujours être conscients de ces défauts.
I don’t use AI to write. Any author who uses it must make the readers aware that this tool has contributed towards the content they’ve created, and to what extent. I say this because AI tools are flawed in terms of copyrighting the content they create. They copy biased models and make mistakes in their predictions on a number of things. Some AI tools can only be used by journalists to conduct research or analyze large volumes of data. The users must always be aware of these flaws.
However, Johnson is not opposed to AI. He recognizes that its use is inevitable and that journalists must get into it:
La révolution de l'IA par rapport au journalisme est une question émergente qui n'a pas reçu l'attention qu'elle mérite dans les salles de rédaction en Afrique, et le fait d'avoir l'occasion d'améliorer mes compétences à cet égard, me donne une longueur d'avance.
The journalism AI revolution is an emerging issue that hasn’t received due attention in African newsrooms. Having this opportunity to improve my skills in this area puts me at an advantage.
Kenyan broadcast journalist and podcaster Cecilia Maundu states:
Grâce à cette rencontre, j’ai appris que l’IA n'est pas toujours factuelle et qu'elle est en quelque sorte “raciste” en raison des algorithmes qui lui ont été imposés. J'utiliserais l'IA pour m'aider à en savoir plus sur la thématique sur laquelle je travaille, et sur ce que je veux écrire, mais je ne dépendrai pas d'elle.
Thanks to this convention, I learned that AI isn’t always factual and is somewhat “racist” due to the algorithms it receives. I would thereby use AI to learn more about the topic I’m working on and want to write about, but I wouldn’t depend on it.
Although it’s clear that artificial intelligence hasn’t quite finished making headlines, especially in Africa where there are major technological challenges, media readiness remains the key issue here. Will African newsrooms be up to the challenge of embracing artificial intelligence tools in an ethical manner?
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