By Kolawole Ojebisi
Former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, has urged media practitioners to embrace the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the execution of some of their daily tasks in order to promote media professionalism and good governance.
Omo-Agege stressed that this will enable media practitioners to leverage AI’s limitless versatility to promote good governance, social impact, and positive change, media professionalism and ethics.
He made the call on Thursday in Asaba in his remarks at the Distinguished Nigerian Awards, organised by Oasis Magazine.
Speaking on “Artificial Intelligence and the Contemporary Media Space,” as a distinguished guest of honour, Senator Omo-Agege said AI has had a profound impact on virtually every area of business, governance, and politics.
He said it should be applied to hold those holding public office accountable. Listing the benefits of AI, the former Deputy Senate President noted that it enables social media monitoring and sentiment analysis as well as equips the people to track governance and its dynamics.
Omo-Agege, who was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 Delta State gubernatorial election and was represented by Mr Chuks Erhire, noted that as AI is used regularly to verify content to prevent disinformation, it can be also deployed to track developments in society.
“The integration of AI in the media space necessitates a thoughtful approach, balancing innovation with accountability and transparency to ensure a responsible and beneficial coexistence of humans,” he stated.
He warned that AI-generated content can be misused to create convincing but false information, thereby threatening media credibility, adding that they blur the lines between human and artificial communication.
However, by adhering to ethics, training, and enlightenment, AI can be used to evolve the most practical and beneficial option for societal advancement.
