Media professionals attending the 12th Global Video Media Forum (VMF) in east China's Fujian Province have emphasized the need for a more balanced approach to integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into newsroom operations, highlighting the need for a better understanding of new AI technologies so as to alleviate fears and skepticism in the journalism sector.
The two-day VMF wrapped up in the historic coastal city of Quanzhou on Wednesday after gathering around 200 representatives from more than 60 countries and regions to conduct in-depth discussions on the application and governance of AI technologies in the media sector.
At a panel discussion on Tuesday morning themed on "How New Technology Empowers the Media," industry insiders and tech experts from several countries shared their views on the use of AI in the media sector, highlighting the pros and cons of utilizing this fast-developing tech tool.
During the session, Patricia Moreira, the deputy news director of leading Portuguese commercial television broadcaster SIC TV, noted that many journalists still have doubts about AI, with many fearing their jobs could be risk.
"I think training and understanding the models will help people to be more reassured about their job. I think that's the most important thing, because their doubts are mainly because they don't understand how it works. I think that's the main question, so for me, it's training. Some of them will have to go, because they are not prepared, and they don't want to be. It's part of it. In every revolution, like in industrial revolution and so on, it's normal, it's part of it. We can't stop it. We have to be prepared to live with it," she said.
Meanwhile, Adrian Wells, Managing Director of the Luxembourg-based European News Exchange (ENEX), believes a clear distinctive can be made between AI applications which are already being widely welcomed and deployed to carry out general tasks in the newsroom, and the much more divisive use of generative AI tools, which are courting some controversy.
"I think in a way sometimes it's helpful to divide up this discussion of AI into two brackets. The sort of non-controversial and controversial bracket, perhaps. One sort of bucket, if you like, of tools and features involves automizing, translation, speech-to-text, editing, reformatting video, metadata tagging of archive, facial recognition for that purpose. And I think in a way there's probably less controversy around these areas, because they're just sort of straightforwardly utilities that we probably should all find use for in our newsroom operations or news organization workflows," he said.
"Then there's another bucket of AI utilities which does revolve around these issues of generative AI, where we're using software to actually generate text that might otherwise be thought to have been generated by human beings. And of course, there are a lot more issues around that area, but also fantastic possibilities as well," said Wells.
Hosted by the CCTV Video News Agency (CCTV+), the VMF was held under the theme "Intelligence Without Frontiers, Vision Beyond the Horizon -- Media's Role in Communication and Cultural Exchange."
Launched by CCTV+ in 2011, the VMF has grown into a premier platform for media professionals from around the world to discuss the latest trends in video content communication and innovation, while the event also aims to foster greater interaction and collaboration between domestic and international media.
Media insiders highlight need for better training, understanding to integrate AI into newsrooms
Media insiders highlight need for better training, understanding to integrate AI into newsrooms
