September 26, 2023

Omar Sultan Al Olama urges media to harness the potential of artificial intelligence to its fullest extent

- Generative AI is a tool to empower human to unlock opportunities and achieve new levels of efficiency, says UAE Minister of AI

The theme of the Arab Media Forum – ‘The Future of Arab Media’ – was brought into sharp focus when His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications, took the stage during an engrossing session titled ‘How Will AI Change Media?’

During the session, His Excellency shared his perspective on the unstoppable journey of AI: 'I am not one who sees AI either in a positive or negative light,' he said, explaining that he liked to see the technology merely as an instrument to bring about change. 'Our job is to find the best technology to empower media professionals,' he added.

Reflecting on the media industry’s growth right through its history, His Excellency said it had always been about delivering the message using available tools and the sector had transformed in time, but the change brought on by AI was very radical and very fast.

According to studies, automated systems are poised to play a significant role in content creation in the near future, as noted by His Excellency. He said that by 2025, 90% of web content is expected to be AI-generated. The foundational structure of the media sector has remained unchanged thus far, and it continues to rely on technology for information delivery.

His Excellency emphasized that the most important factor is always the human factor. It is imperative to ensure truth and credibility, and there must be a trustworthy human responsible for producing content on digital and other platforms. He added that technology simply enables the message to reach a wider audience.

His Excellency gave an anecdote about a group of people who developed 471 billion melodies using AI and copyrighted them. That was the kind of scope technology and AI held out, he said.

AI is being used to monitor football matches and by companies to achieve their media goals and expand the reach of their ads," His Excellency said, adding that AI allows for the use of limited resources to greater effect. It doesn't require heavy infrastructure; just a web browser can help an average person leverage its possibilities. It promises improved outcomes for nearly everyone.

Touching on another key aspect of the discussion, His Excellency said audience interaction is key for the media and tailored tech would help achieve these goals for different categories and groups of people. Chat GPT attracted 100 million users in its initial 2 months, His Excellency pointed out. That is how easy technology adoption can be. AI is helping productivity by approximately 50% for most people, he said.
Translating content could be exacting for those in media but AI could support and facilitate such work, he added.

AI will redefine most concepts we know in our everyday life, His Excellency said and chose to highlight how the UAE had always stayed true to its vision to incorporate technological advances like generative AI.

His Excellency said, 'The UAE's proactive approach to shaping its future direction has been reflected in the recent release of the '100 Practical Use Cases of Generative AI' guide. Today, in line with the Arab Media Forum, we launch '100 Practical Use Cases of Generative AI in Media.' His Excellency emphasized that the UAE consistently strives to catalyze transformative changes."

During a chat with a virtual moderator, which was generated using generative AI, His Excellency was asked if AI was to be seen as a threat. 'AI is a tool, not a threat, not an opportunity. I want to grab the opportunity using this tool,' he replied.

When asked whether he thought AI would come to replace journalists, His Excellency said, 'I don't think so in the foreseeable future. How many times can you retrain AI after the first time? It can't possibly replace people because they have the capability to constantly judge between right and wrong and adapt to situations.

His Excellency signed off the session with his insights for the AMF audience. “Use AI as a teacher to improve output. These systems are not perfect. We can use them to improve our learnings and understanding as we go along.”