Forty journalists from media organisations in West Africa, together with Toheeb Babalola, a PREMIUM TIMES journalist primarily based in Oyo State, have accomplished a three-month Synthetic Intelligence Fellowship with FactCheckAfrica.
Fellows and facilitators from Nigeria, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and different nations met weekly on Zoom in the course of the three-month programme.
The fellowship explored the connection between synthetic intelligence and journalism, enabling the fellows to inform compelling tales and take part intelligently in public discourse.
Talking with PREMIUM TIMES, World Director, Mind Builders Youth Growth Initiative, Olasupo Abideen, mentioned he was excited concerning the groundbreaking AI Journalism Fellowship in West Africa.
“We’re thrilled to have the primary AI Journalism Fellowship that spans all of West Africa for the primary time in Africa, particularly on this area,” Mr Abideen mentioned.
He mentioned that by bringing collectively technologists and journalists to navigate the quickly increasing subject of synthetic intelligence in media, the initiative marks a big milestone for the area.
Mr Abideen identified that the fellows’ lively participation on social media and their suggestions reveal that the Fellowship has already produced encouraging outcomes.
“Primarily based on what the fellows have been sharing with us and posting on their social media, it has been fascinating that we’ve got not solely imparted the fellows, but in addition impacted completely different newsrooms, information platforms, and technologists with varied instruments to navigate the AI world,” he mentioned.
Mr Abideen highlighted the importance of sustainability and the dissemination of data acquired all through the fellowship. “We anticipate that the blokes will impart this information to others,” he mentioned.
Programmes Lead for the FactCheckAfrica AI Journalism Fellowship, Prudence Emudianughe, said that equipping journalists with a strong basis in ethical AI rules and finest practices is likely one of the fellowship’s most important objectives.
Ms Emudianughe said that the fellowship goals to protect the best requirements of journalistic integrity within the period of synthetic intelligence by fostering the aforementioned values.
She famous that the attendees, who at the moment are fellows, had gained invaluable insights and helpful data from eminent authorities within the fields of journalism and synthetic intelligence.
Reiterating the transformative potential of accountable AI integration in newsrooms, she added that the coaching had not solely improved the individuals’ technical expertise, but in addition fostered a deeper appreciation for the advanced interactions between AI and journalism.
“Moral issues are essential when incorporating AI instruments into journalism, because the AI Journalism Fellowship West Africa emphasises. Members had considerate conversations about attainable biases, privateness points, and the hazards of false info associated to AI know-how all through the course of the programme.
“Whereas integrating AI into journalism has huge potential, there are additionally massive moral implications. Our goal is to ensure that journalists are ready to hold out these duties and that they apply AI in ways in which strengthen slightly than diminish the reliability and credibility of their reporting,” she said.
One of many facilitators, Greg Gondwe, who’s a professor, emphasised the importance of growing regionally related content material and the important function web connectivity performs in enabling applicable AI utilisation in Africa.
Additionally, contributions from esteemed audio system like Walid Al-Saqaf and Camilla Tub, underscored the significance of guaranteeing moral and equitable AI practices in journalism.
To be able to use AI successfully, Douglas Ng emphasised the necessity for knowledge. “The collaborative atmosphere amongst fellows—whether or not within the type of one-on-one conversations or group initiatives—has tremendously improved the training course of by fostering a way of connection and shared function,” he added.
The Future Journalism At this time Academy‘s founder, Laurens Vreekmap, gave a discuss creating AI implementation plans that work for information organisations, overcoming obstacles, and exhibiting how specific instruments could possibly be used to satisfy operational wants.
Knowledge journalist Stephane Ohumu spoke about utilizing AI for knowledge evaluation and visualisation in journalism.
He additionally suggested on utilizing native AI fashions to enhance African knowledge and safeguard info, kicking in opposition to relying an excessive amount of on ChatGPT as a result of privateness issues.
Sam Guzik, a future and product strategist, supplied authentic concepts for leveraging AI to enhance viewers engagement.
He mentioned the event of printing know-how and its affect on media immediately, emphasising how generative AI is altering consumer behaviour and standard media enterprise fashions.
Award-winning journalist and SIRAJ founder, Ali al Ibrahim harassed the necessity of transparency, moral requirements, and verification in an effort to guarantee truthful and moral AI practices in journalism.
The Nation newspaper’s knowledge and investigative journalist, Justina Ashishana confirmed fellows how AI can revolutionise visible journalism through the use of its instruments to provide visually hanging photos, fascinating movies, and immersive audio. She additionally emphasised the worth of collaborating between human experience and AI.
Stephen Quinn, a professor at Kristiana College, Norway, mentioned the transformative function of AI in filmmaking, showcasing instruments like Gemini Chat, Runway, and Topaz AI, and emphasising that whereas AI can improve creativity, human enter stays irreplaceable.
Talking about his expertise on the Fellowship, PREMIUM TIMES’ Mr Babalola mentioned that in the course of the earlier three months, an abundance of synthetic intelligence instruments had inundated him, making his reviews simpler to the purpose the place he began performing extra like a developer.
“I’ve created multimedia content material, written weblog posts and social media posts, and engaged with my viewers up to now few months utilizing the talents I discovered throughout every Fellowship session,” he mentioned.
FactCheckAfrica, an initiative of the Mind Builders Youth Growth Initiative, chosen the journalists and media professionals primarily based on their work expertise and affiliation with respected organisations in April 2024.
The Synthetic Intelligence (AI) Journalism Fellowship (West Africa) is a challenge that goals to coach journalists on find out how to combine AI instruments ethically.
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