What is the perfect blend of AI and media?
The transformative influence of artificial intelligence (AI) on the future of media was decoded at the 10th anniversary of the DZMC - Young Communicators' Guild's (YCG) flagship event, the PUP Radio Conference 2024, on March 8.
(Photos by Jann Conrad Bonifacio / The Communicator)
This year’s theme, “R-BOT: Decoding Media’s Fate in the Age of AI,” aimed to discuss a grounded perspective on the hybrid formula of journalism and AI with more than 600 attendees from different schools and universities at the Tanghalang PUP, College of Communication.
Bulatlat Associate Editor Danilo Arao and GMA’s Barangay Love Story 97.1 FM radio anchor Renzmark “Papa Dudut” Ricafrente headlined the conference as resource speakers.
Arao kickstarted the event’s two-part discussion with his talk on AI in the newsroom, noting AI’s promise of increasing creativity, efficiency, and better experience through deep learning algorithms.
Two important branches of AI in journalism were highlighted by Arao—machine-learning and its ability to accurately imitate human behavior and natural language processing, where it can comprehend, generate, and manipulate human language.
Arao shared recent developments in the country’s openness to using AI and the ongoing efforts to establish guidelines on its proper and ethical use.
He added that media organizations began to incorporate technology in news reports, citing the use of holograms and AI newscasters. However, he also noted that it should be utilized as a tool rather than a source of distraction.
“Walang masama kung gagamit tayo ng AI pero the form shall not be distracting to the content. Kung AI-generated ‘yan, may kasabihan sa journalism, ‘content is king,’ ‘yung content ay mas mapagpasiya kaysa sa program.”
Arao emphasized that AI can only make descriptive analyses and cannot replace journalists, especially in making judgment calls in determining unethical and ethical behaviors, as well as contextualizing stories.
Ricafrente backed Arao’s sentiments on AI’s inability to replace humans in the radio industry, stating that AI lacks the human touch and cannot replicate the genuine emotions that radio DJs can bring.
However, he encouraged everyone to see AI from a different perspective—where it is part of the media’s advancement, claiming that radio DJs were the first to embrace the change it brought to their programs.
Ricafrente furthered that technology opened the opportunity for collaboration by discovering new music and unforeseen connections with its audience through social media.
“Let us try to find the balance between tradition and innovation, harnessing the power of AI while cherishing the essence of radio,” Ricafrente explained.
He added that people should embrace the evolving role of AI with open arms, knowing its potential to create “magic” in storytelling and content creation through proper use.
Article: Lourence Angelo Marcellana
Graphics: Yuko Shimomura
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