MEDIA JOB WON'T FULLY REPLACE BY AI

KUALA LUMPUR, July 18 (Bernama) -- Without a doubt, artificial intelligence (AI) has numerous advantages in the workplace, including the ability to rapidly process large scientific data sets.

However, when a job requires specific skills such as emotional intelligence, AI systems may be ineffective, and humans remain the best option for some jobs.

Huawei Business Development Manager Asia Pacific (Cloud Business Development Dept 2), Thomas Tham said this includes the job of media practitioners, although it was undeniable that Al is increasingly used to generate and enhance media content such as articles, videos, and music through its driven tools.

Tham also explained that AI analytics offer deep insights into audience behaviour, preferences, and sentiment, enabling media producers to make informed decisions on content strategy, marketing campaigns, and audience engagement tactics.

However, he stated that a recent survey found that 70 per cent of media practitioners still prefer to deliver news in person.

“Let's say,  in a natural disaster report, I shouldn’t expect the AI to smile or use certain terms that will not resonate with the users. So I think that is something very important. 

“We have our own AI engine called Natural Language Processing (Pangu NLP), that is currently operating on our search results. What to look for is brand protection, which is extremely important...because when you create and deliver content, it may be used by your competitors or others.

“As more users (people) start to be on social media, they also want to be like community journalists and do certain things like a live stream to enhance and attract more readership or viewership. This is how AI starts to grow. And AI has always been a very expensive technology, but for AI to be effective, it needs to have a lot of user data.”

Tham said this when appearing as a guest at the Concorde Club Meeting on “AI and The Media: The Future”, here today. The meeting was chaired by the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai. 

Tham also pointed out that according to a Hootsuite survey, 75 per cent of media practitioners intend to use AI for comprehensive text revisions by 2024, up 103 per cent from 2023.

A recent study also found that more than 40 per cent of social media marketers use AI for caption writing, he added.

Meanwhile, Wong also acknowledged the importance of AI in carrying out media tasks, stating that Huawei itself provides excellent training software to media organisations such as Bernama.

“He (Tham) provided me with a video in which I had to do a conference in China and they put up a video of me speaking perfect Mandarin. At Huawei, there is a central piece they used to show how the AI works,” he said.

-- BERNAMA