Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the media industry, but human judgment, empathy, trust and creativity will remain essential to the future of journalism, media experts have said.
The experts made the remarks at the Pan-Atlantic University media roundtable webinar themed ‘The Future of African Media: AI, Monetisation, and Editorial Integrity,’ where they discussed the opportunities and challenges AI presents for African media organisations.
The media experts echoed that the future of African media will depend on balancing AI adoption with human creativity, ethical journalism and the trust audiences place in credible storytellers.
Speaking at the webinar, Mike Okwoche, international broadcast journalist, said AI is changing the traditional media model and should be seen as a tool that supports journalists rather than replaces them.
“AI is a tool to facilitate what we are doing. It does not have empathy, but journalism requires empathy,” Okwoche said.
He noted that trust remains one of the most valuable assets in journalism, especially when reporting issues that affect people’s lives and communities.
“Trust is one of the biggest currencies in journalism. You could be doing stories that touch human existence, and AI may not understand the nuances or peculiarities of this,” he said.
According to him, AI can assist journalists with tasks such as data collection and research, but human journalists remain responsible for understanding contexts and building relationships with audiences.
Morayo Brown, CEO of MAB Productions, said changing audience behaviour is forcing media organisations to rethink traditional approaches to news production and distribution.
According to her, many audiences are questioning traditional media and demanding more engaging forms of storytelling.
“People no longer trust traditional media, and there is a need for more avenues. The consumer today wants a different kind of news,” Brown said.
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She added that AI has helped reduce production costs and enabled smaller teams to compete more effectively.
“AI has been very effective and it has reduced production economics more than it used to be. AI has helped me compete with a team and has helped me align stories that resonate and captivate an audience,” she said.
However, Brown noted that AI cannot replace human interaction, especially in areas such as hosting, audience engagement and real-time connection.
“There are a lot of things AI cannot do, which include hosting and real-time relationships with an audience. It is not just about reading the news anymore; it is about engaging the audience,” she added.
Jeremiah Bandele, founder of Haroftech Engineering Limited, said AI should be viewed as an assistant that enhances human capability rather than a replacement for professionals.
“AI is just a tool meant to assist us and not take our place. It is not a decision-maker, and trust is key,” Bandele said.
He stated that transparency would be important for organisations adopting AI, particularly as concerns around ethics and accountability continue to grow.
Elizabeth Musa, programme lead and anchor at BusinessDay Media, said AI has improved efficiency in several areas of media production, including research, voiceovers and story packaging.
She stated that AI-powered data analytics can also help media organisations better understand audience interests and create more relevant content.
“AI makes it easier to research, do voiceovers and package stories because our work is very fast. But people still want to connect with what you do,” Musa said.
Richard Ikiebe, chairman of the board of directors of BusinessDay Media, warned that the rise of AI could create a future where content creators risk losing their unique voices and identities as machines increasingly replicate human styles.
He noted that the major challenge facing African media is not AI itself but the industry’s ability to integrate the technology effectively.
“AI is not failing in Africa, but African media is failing to absorb itself into AI intelligently,” Ikiebe said.
He added that media organisations must find ways to adopt AI while preserving originality, credibility and editorial integrity.
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