As this issue of Arab Media & Society has a theme of ‘Media & Artificial Intelligence’ it provides the opportunity to reflect upon the forum hosted by the Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism in the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the American University in Cairo’s Oriental Hall in June 2023. The forum examined the intersection between media and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and was titled "AI and Journalism Education in the Arab Region: Prospects and Concerns”. The event featured experts from academic, media, and technology backgrounds who addressed the topic of AI and its evolving relation within journalism and media education.

The panelists included Hussein Amin, Professor and Director of the Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism at AUC; Tarek Elabaddy, Former Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft Research; Ahmed El Gody, Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies, Orebro University, Sweden; and Ahmed Esmat, Digital Transformation Consultant and Media Trainer. The panel was moderated by Arab Media & Society’s Editor-at-Large, and then Head of the Kamal Adham Center’s Research and Publications Division, Sarah El-Shaarawi.

Following introductions, El-Shaarawi briefly examined AI’s potential impact on media, journalism, and mass communication. She specifically referenced educational curricula and capacity building programs. She indicated the panel aimed to address both the technology and application of AI in the fields of media and communication education, which should prepare university students with the skills and knowledge needed to navigate a rapidly evolving job market.

Amin’s presentation highlighted potential prospects and anticipated challenges of integrating AI into journalism education. He explained that some universities in Egypt are currently in the initial stages of exploration of AI integration in their media and journalism curricula. He advocated for accelerating the integration process to keep pace with rapid market developments. Amin predicted AI would initiate tremendous changes in the academic realm, which include making content more accessible to students with special needs to ensure a well-rounded educational experience for all, translating content into multiple languages, utilizing AI in classroom news production, detecting bias, transcribing and summarizing lengthy text, as well as enabling tailored learning modules for personalized education. These projections are in addition to general advantages in journalism and mass communication programs, which include easier access to information that result in elevating student performance and intellect. Further, integration of AI tools in curricula can bridge the gap between conventional pedagogy and innovative teaching techniques, such as immersive learning that provides real world experiences and simulation outside of class. On the educator side, AI software provides educators with reliable and accurate evaluation methods and more efficient grading of assessments. Amin also addressed potential challenges while using AI in pedagogy, which include a reduction in the human interaction that is customary of in-class discussions and professor-student communication, replacement of journalism educators, as well as the potential for AI addiction that may be comparative to current levels of smart phone and digital addiction. Additionally, the advantages offered by AI may exacerbate the increasing gap between the information-rich and information-poor.

Amin emphasized the importance for educational programs to be adaptable and agile in the face of new technologies, such as AI. This allows these programs to cope with new pedagogical approaches and uses. Amin argued that programs that fail to keep pace with the rapid changes will not remain competitive and their survival will be endangered. As such, Amin advised both the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, as well as the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, to promptly consider initiatives to introduce and integrate AI tools in educational programs. Furthermore, he called on the Sector of Media and Communication in the Supreme Council of Universities to study international models that incorporate AI tools in higher education curricula. He specifically recommended establishing specialized diplomas in AI journalism to produce qualified graduates that could compete internationally. Amin concluded his remarks by stating, “The wind of change has arrived, no more fears of AI technologies. Let us say time has come to implement it and use it to keep up with changes that are happening in the world of journalism education”.

Elabaddy began his presentation by reassuring audiences that despite the rise of AI and its various associated risks, humans were evolutionarily and historically meant to conquer and prevail. Similar to Amin, Elabaddy voiced his concerns as it relates to AI displacing many occupations. Formerly, applications of AI in media focused on technical tasks, such as content management, archival purposes, and automation. That is quickly changing and could put many jobs at risk. However, he chose to focus on the benefits, which he believed to be significant and life changing. He emphasized that Egypt, and other nations with predominately younger populations, are at an advantage due to this demographic generally adopting technology more rapidly. As such, countries with a younger population are poised for the change that AI will likely generate. He attributed the rapid evolution of AI to the availability of large amounts of data, as well as the expansion of computing and processing powers. With this flourishing of technological capacity, AI's ability to process vast amounts of data has surpassed human capabilities in routine tasks and offers advantages, for example better disease diagnosis. Further, AI performs better than humans in its capacity to identify patterns in large data sets. Additionally, advertising is increasingly driven by AI as a key monetization model that relies on the internet, which is evident in the myriad of AI-powered user experiences on social media platforms.

Elabbady explained that educational programs need to focus on three key areas or what he referred to as the “3C’s,” which are critical thinking, creativity, and communication. Focusing on imparting these skills will equip younger generations with the necessary tools to keep up with AI. Despite AI’s tremendous capacity, Elabbady pointed out that humans still outperform AI in many areas, which include collaborative thinking and teamwork. Further, educational programs will need to promote agility and flexibility in their curricula so students can take advantage of the new technology. He concluded that regulation of AI, similar to governance of environmental issues or nuclear weapons, is essential. He argued that international agencies must play a crucial role to ensure AI maintains ethical practices.

El Gody’s presentation focused on the current gaps between journalism education and journalism practice, while specifically referencing AI integration—or the lack thereof—in media and journalism educational programs. He likened the rapid evolution in AI to the advent of the internet. He explained that media institutions are recruiting talent with little or no journalistic background and instead privileging technological aptitude in the hiring process, which include social media management, data mining, and programming. This illustrates the shrinking demand for traditional journalism graduates. Moreover, in recent years novel forms of journalism have developed and become prominent, which also changed the newsroom structure. As a result of these changes, AI programmers are increasing integral to the news production process. These new approaches from within the industry demand that journalism education adapt to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving market and audience, which obligates journalists to become more entrepreneurial within the social media economy.

El Gody also presented different approaches that global educational institutions have adopted to adjust to AI trends. In the United States, some top-tier universities—such as Stanford and MIT—include elements of AI in their programs, rather than change their programs significantly. In Europe, a mixed-method model has been adopted by some programs—such as London School of Economics and University of Amsterdam—whereby AI is adopted as a practical application, but also critically examined via ontological or theoretical approaches. Other institutions integrate the expertise of professors from other departments—for example, computer science—in journalism courses. Scandinavian countries—such as Sweden and Norway—are widely recognized as innovators in journalism. Their pioneering spirit is evident in the adoption of an innovation model, which encourages universities to develop new academic programs pertaining to AI with the help of the government and non-government institutions. These novel programs are developed via focus groups that include media practitioners, academics, technology service providers, and journalism trainers. This process assesses the need for specific skills and demands in the job market while also identifying existing capacities that can be developed. As for the Middle East, universities are still in the initial stages of integrating AI into academic programs, which includes incorporating some AI-related discussion topics and AI gadgets—such as virtual reality-based journalism. He provided specific examples from the American University in Cairo, University of Sharjah, Qatar University, as well as others. He ended with a note of caution regarding the anxieties that AI poses, which include education overload, biased narratives, copyright and privacy violation, as well as a lack of transparency.

Esmat followed up El Gody’s presentation with an overview of a proposed diploma program that would train journalists and media professionals to effectively harness the capacity of AI. He provided examples of AI disrupting the media and entertainment industries, which includes news gathering, production, and distribution. Furthermore, vast investment in AI is driven by immense financial backing, which represents trillions of dollars being funneled into this field. Esmat concluded the digital transformation of newsrooms is not simply just acquiring novel AI technology, it involves changing mindsets. More specifically, this process will include resistance to AI adoption as it is a direct threat to job security. Therefore, media organizations must determine how valuable AI is to their respective business as the investment is both costly and time consuming.

Following the presentations, El-Shaarawi invited the audience to ask questions, which precipitated an interesting discussion. The topics ranged from what critical thinking would look like in the AI-era, the concepts of agility and adaptability as it pertains to AI, data strategy and how it drives AI technology, the need to expand local and Arab databases to train AI systems, cybersecurity and its relationship to AI integration, the disparity between technologists and journalists and how address this knowledge gap, as well as law and regulations governing ethical AI practices.

Although the panel occurred in late 2023, many of the points raised throughout the event are still pertinent. More specifically, the integration of AI into journalism education in the Arab region is still in a nascent stage as little progress has been made beyond incorporating modules or components into existing programs. Meanwhile, those countries that have established AI programs have a distinct advantage as they continually refine and modify their curricula as new trends emerge, which provides their graduates with the necessary tools to meet the demands of an evolving job market. Despite AI’s access to the Internet, Arabic language databases and datasets still lag behind global benchmarks. According to the World Economic Forum, governments should strive to establish AI regulations by the end of 2024. Concerns regarding AI continue to contribute to a widening digital divide, which is an issue that should be at the center of this policy making process. As for educational programs, which was the focus of this forum, it is clear that a more interdisciplinary approach to AI is necessary. This would likely involve students from across all academic disciplines learning about AI, which includes exposure to scholarship from different technological, ontological, critical approaches. 

As we approach the end of 2024, more significant and rapid evolution is underway. AI technology is taking big strides. According to Stanford University’s Human Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) AI Index report, the number of large language models released globally in 2023 had more than doubled from the previous year. AI exceeds human performance on standard benchmarks and is increasingly being used by the public. Despite people becoming more aware of the capcity and associated risks of AI, concerns over its ability to generate deepfakes and contribute to a growing information disparity still preside. In addition to the issues addressed by the forum’s panelists, AI still underperforms in intricate reasoning, is at times inconsistent, and may generate erroneous responses. Despite these unresolved issues, media and journalism education must strive to equip future graduates with much needed AI training and dexterity.

In response to these trends, educational institutions like the Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism at AUC are working toward introducing AI-focused diplomas for journalists and media professionals. Although the diploma is still in the planning phase, rigorous research and exhaustive feasibility studies have been conducted. The proposed diploma will comprise a five-module program—offered in English—that covers the basics of AI, which includes key terminology, the role of data, as well as the differences between machine learning and deep learning. The proposed curriculum will also include real-world examples of AI integration in media production and emphasize the importance of interactive news products. Further, the program will teach students how to plan and execute an AI project, which relies on developing a business model, creative problem-solving, and determining audience needs. AI regulations and governance will be addressed, particularly as it relates to the Arab world. Lastly, the diploma will teach generative AI tools for text, image, audio, and video content, as well as tools for automation. The final cumulative graduation project will apply all the learned concepts in a practical setting.