KUALA LUMPUR: Every media organisation in the country is advised to prepare an artificial intelligence (AI) transformation plan in their respective operations, according to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
However, he said they need to be careful in making investments in the technology so that it does not affect existing employees.
"...I do not want a situation where many workers are being laid off or losing jobs. I also note that, sometimes, many journalists have to do two or three other tasks.
"Prior to this, they only had to do one (reporting) task, but now, they have to do two or three other tasks. Maybe in that aspect, AI can help them to gain efficiencies," he told a press conference here on Sunday (Feb 23) after launching the ‘AI in the Newsroom’ course organised by the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), the first course in a series of AI-related training programmes for media professionals.
Bernama chief executive officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin and Huawei Malaysia chief executive officer Simon Sun were in attendance.
Also present were Bernama editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj, deputy editor-in-chief (Economic News Service) Azlina Aziz, executive editor (assuming duties of deputy editor-in-chief of International News Service) Mohd Shukri Ishak, head of Management and Finance Sharifah Zaini Syed Zain and head of Commercial Mastura Hassan.
Meanwhile, Fahmi said that every media organisation also needs to make an investment to appoint a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to safeguard all the data they produce.
"This post is very important because we have amended the Personal Data Protection Act and we know that today's data, including that produced by media companies, is very valuable.
"So if there is a CISO, we can safeguard the data and we can benefit from it," he said.
Regarding the course on Sunday, Fahmi hopes that more media organisations can benefit from the experience of experts who were invited to share their knowledge.
He said the ministry would seek feedback from media companies and journalists involved on the role that the government can play to help them navigate the changes caused by the emergence of new technologies.
"Previously, we used to discuss a lot about the impact of social media, but now with the advent of AI, perhaps some of the functional tasks of positions such as editors, graphic designers and so on will be affected.
"I had a meeting with several affected media companies last week, but I believe we would see more media organisations being affected in the future," he said.
Fahmi said with such a course being available, it is hoped that media organisations will be able to take steps to understand and take advantage of the changes and at the same time find new opportunities for their employees to use the new application.
The course will also be organised in other states so that all media outlets across the country can take the opportunity to gain new knowledge, he added. - Bernama
