The 50th General Assembly of the Federation of Arab News Agencies (FANA) held its conference in Abu Dhabi yesterday, under the chairmanship of Dr. Fahd bin Hassan Al Aqran, President of the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) and President of the Federation, under the slogan “The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Work of News Agencies.”
The conference was held as part of the agenda of the second edition of the Global Media Congress, which is currently being held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).
The conference discussed the opportunities and challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI) to the media sector in general and news agencies in particular, as they are the entities responsible for news production.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Farid Ayar, Secretary-General of FANA; Dr. Dr. Fatma Al Salem, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director-General of the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA); Abdulla Buhejji, Director-General of the Bahrain News Agency (BNA); Ibrahim bin Saif Al Azri, Directo
r-General and Editor-in-Chief of the Oman News Agency (ONA); Ali Hassan Mohamed Abdel-Baqi, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Editor-in-Chief of the Middle East News Agency (MENA); Ziad Harfouche, Director of the Lebanese News Agency (NNA); Fouad Arif, Director-General of the Moroccan News Agency (MAP); Dr. Najeh Missaoui, President and Director-General of the Tunisian News Agency (TAP); Khalid Al Motawaa, Director of Technical Affairs Deptartment at Qatar News Agency; Jamil Baramawi, Director of Institutional Development and Training of the Jordanian News Agency (Petra); and Abdulrahman Rashid Buheji, Director General of the General Department of Strategic Communication at the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) General Secretariat.
In his opening remarks to the conference, Mohammed Jalal Al Rayssi, Director-General of Emirates News Agency (WAM) and Chairman of the Higher Organising Committee for the Global Media Congress, conveyed the greetings of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, His Highne
ss Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, and his best wishes for continued success and contribution to the enrichment of the sessions and discussions of the second edition of the Global Media Congress.
On behalf of the Higher Organising Committee of the Global Media Congress, Al Rayssi welcomed the participants of the second edition of the international event, which is held under the theme of “Shaping the Future of the Media Industry”, in the presence and participation of experts and pioneers in the media industry from different countries of the world, thanking them for their valuable participation.
In his speech, the WAM Director-General stressed that artificial intelligence journalism represents a new stage in the media industry, which requires cooperation and joint action to harness these technologies in a way that enhances Arab media work and transforms the challenges arising from modern technologies into new opportunities for s
uccess and achieving common institutional goals.
He said, “Using artificial intelligence programmes correctly contributes to achieving our institutional responsibilities to preserve social values, the credibility of news and reliability, through the provision of media content that relies on artificial intelligence technologies to collect and analyse data accurately, limit the spread of fake news, generate new ideas for diverse media coverage, innovate methods for writing news stories and ways of presenting them, improve the quality of images and video clips, and other features available through these smart technologies.”
He added, “The use of artificial intelligence software also requires creating a general culture among workers in news agencies that supports the artificial intelligence media system, which allows them to accomplish more work in less time and with high professionalism.”
Al Rayssi pointed out that WAM is displaying two interactive platforms at its pavilion in the second edition of the Global
Media Congress. These platforms illustrate the possibilities of AI in producing credible news on one hand and the fabrication of news on the other.
He explained that the first platform, “Make a News Story at WAM, ” uses AI technologies to create news and reports. The second platform, titled “Fake News and WAM’s Credibility”, provides a real experience for pavilion visitors to create a false news story with audio and video. He called on the attendees to learn more about these two platforms and to familiarise themselves with what AI can offer in the media industry.
Concluding his speech, Al Rayssi expressed his appreciation to all partners for their valuable participation in this edition of the Global Media Congress and wished that their participation would lead to further opportunities to strengthen partnerships with many regional and international institutions across the media industry.
For their part, the Congress’ participants stressed the need to exchange experiences, share visions, and establish standa
rdised criteria for the operation of AI and regulate its uses. They pointed out that this technology has become a reality that has penetrated almost all sectors, including the media. They also emphasised the importance of preparing for this era of modernity by equipping the required infrastructure and human resources and establishing a legislative and legal environment and ethical standards that regulate the operation of AI.
The conference also highlighted the tremendous capabilities of AI that could address the skills gap and facilitate the work of editors. They also noted that it has created challenges, such as competing with humans in their work and replacing them, as well as concerns about fraud and fake news.
Source: Emirates News Agency (WAM)