Photo of African Union media fellows, used with permission. During the Second African Media Convention held in Lusaka, Zambia on May 11 to 13, 2023, by UNESCO and the African Union (AU), African journalists discussed the intrusion of artificial intelligence in their profession. They also discussed media sustainability and the on this continent. To mark the 30-year anniversary of the #WPFD, Our #AUMediaFellows joined over 300 African editors, journalists and media stakeholders at the #AMC2023 to shape a future of journalism ,by addressing rights of journalists in the age of Pre-Trained Transformed AI. #AUMediaFellowship pic.twitter.com/E4hR4v5bqm — African Union (@_AfricanUnion) May 16, 2023 Some participants, including a group of African Union media fellows, agreed to share their views with Global Voices. The African Union Media Fellowship is a program launched by this continental body and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in 2022. It aims to better equip journalists and content creators to be able to tell stories about Africa beyond the conflicts and crises Although AI undoubtedly helps save time, select topics based on algorithms, sort information in record time, and generate graphs, amongst other such functions, all media professionals should make moderate use of AI in their profession. Nigerian journalist for the Daily Trust, Afeez Hanafi, explains: L'IA est un outil très pertinent pour le journalisme et je pense que chaque journaliste devrait l'adopter pour améliorer son travail. Notez que j'ai dit “améliorer”, ce qui signifie que l'IA ne remplace pas et ne devrait pas remplacer le rôle premier d'un journaliste, qui est de rassembler des faits à l'aide de sources fiables et de reportages sur le terrain. Elle offre des moyens multidimensionnels d'utiliser l'IA et le journalisme de données pour amplifier la narration et produire les impacts souhaités. AI is a very useful tool in journalism, and I think all journalists should use it to improve their work. Note that I said “improve” here. This means that AI does not and should not replace the primary role of journalists, which is to gather facts from reliable sources and field reports. There are multidimensional ways of using AI and data journalism to amplify a story and achieve the desired impact. According to Amira Sayed, Head of Department at the Egyptian Gazette, technologies like AI have radically changed the media landscape, thus having both a positive and negative impact. En ce qui concerne l'aspect positif de l'utilisation de l'intelligence artificielle, elle facilite la collecte d'informations et de données sur certains sujets, la manière de les rendre plus accrocheuses en utilisant la visualisation des données et d'autres outils de l'intelligence artificielle. Vous pouvez créer un podcast en utilisant l'IA. Cela facilite donc le rôle des médias. Cependant il y a un impact négatif en ce qui concerne la diffusion des stéréotypes. Par exemple, si vous demandez à l'IA de collecter des informations sur l'Afrique, elle aura certains types d'études liés à l'Afrique et aux clauses traditionnelles de l'Afrique (…). With regard to the positive impact of the use of artificial intelligence, it facilitates data and information collection on certain subjects and how to make it more eye-catching by using data visualization and other artificial intelligence tools. You can create podcasts using AI, thus facilitating the role of the media. However, there is also a negative impact, involving the dissemination of stereotypes. For example, if you ask AI to collect information on Africa, it will have certain types of studies associated with Africa and traditional African clauses (…). It would therefore be unwise for media professionals to throw themselves into using AI without first having formal training. An introduction is a must, as Sayed points out: En tant que journalistes et professionnels des médias, nous devons maîtriser les nouvelles technologies. En plus de la presse écrite, les médias numériques sont désormais au premier plan. Aujourd'hui, les gens ont tendance à préférer regarder une vidéo plutôt que de lire un article. Il est donc très important de savoir comment utiliser au mieux ces technologies, surtout l'IA, pour améliorer la qualité de son travail. As journalists and media professionals, we must embrace new technologies. Besides print media, digital media now occupy a primary place. Today, people would rather watch videos than read articles. It’s therefore very important to know how to optimally use these technologies, especially AI, to improve the quality of our work.