Union of Arab Radiotelevision Stations Explores AI Integration to Develop Media Work

Tunis, Oct 19 (KUNA) -- The New Media Committee of the Arab Radio and Television Union (ARTU) held discussions today, Monday, on ways to develop the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Arab media work, enhance the utilization of modern technological solutions to support member bodies, and improve the efficiency of media services.

In a statement, the Union said that its Director General, Abd al-Rahim Sulayman, emphasized in his opening address during the 15th meeting of the committee the importance of activities supervised by the New Media Office and the necessity of directing the expertise and experiences developed by the Union toward assisting member bodies, particularly in technical, administrative, and procedural aspects.

Sulayman added that investment in technical tools and equipment has begun to yield cost savings alongside professional benefits, stressing the importance of expanding opportunities to benefit from machine translation to overcome language barriers and engaging experts and trainers from various languages, while enhancing coordination between the New Media Office, the Academy, and the Union’s Training Center.

He underscored the importance of transferring successful experiences to member bodies, citing technical solutions developed by the Union’s team that can provide services at a lower cost compared to some commercial solutions. He stressed that developing technical tools does not threaten the jobs of media professionals but rather necessitates continuous learning, retraining, and expanding practical training scope, making new technologies a means to improve performance and develop media services.

The statement clarified that discussions addressed the limits of relying on AI in media work. Interventions highlighted the capacity of these tools to accelerate task completion and assist journalists in transcribing and summarizing recordings, searching, and selecting clips, while emphasizing the necessity of maintaining human review and not relying automatically on news or conclusions without verifying their sources.

The meeting reviewed several applications that employ AI across integrated stages of media work, ranging from converting inputs into real-time text and translating them into various languages, to preparing structured reports, summarizing them, and extracting key points and recommendations. These applications include simultaneous interpretation, text transcription, report preparation, archive processing, content verification, and digital content production, in addition to enhancing news exchange among member bodies.

It was noted that these experiences have been used in several seminars and meetings, including activities of the Union’s Academy, with reports reviewed by trainers or relevant officials before approval and publication.

The statement pointed out that the New Media Office presented models for transferring technical expertise to member bodies. These included assisting the Iraqi Media Network in installing and operating a simultaneous interpretation system, supporting the Comoros Union in using a system for displaying football match data that was updated remotely and later used in covering a local match.

It also reviewed the developments in the remote electronic refereeing system during the 26th edition of the Arab Radio and Television Festival, and the use of AI tools in preparing video clips for result announcements, including effects and accompanying sounds, with verification that the produced materials matched the results before broadcasting.

The discussion also addressed the need to develop direct communication channels between new media and digital marketing officials in member bodies to ensure that promotional materials issued by the Union reach relevant parties and allow for their republication or adaptation according to each body’s needs.

(end) S.B.M. / S.M.A.