ANTARA stresses that AI does not replace editorial responsibility

Beijing (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s national news agency, ANTARA, stressed that artificial intelligence (AI) does not replace editorial responsibility or the importance of journalists’ work.

“Artificial intelligence can help journalists, but it cannot replace human judgement and editorial responsibility,” ANTARA chief executive Abdul Hakim said on Thursday. He was the first speaker at the “Forum on Powering Intelligent Media” seminar in Beijing.

The seminar was part of the seventh World Media Summit, held in Beijing from 5 to 9 November under the theme “Media in the Age of Intelligence: From Consensus to Action”.

“Technology can speed up news production, but it must not weaken our commitment to accuracy, verification, fairness and integrity,” Abdul Hakim said.

He also said the future of intelligent media depended on energy and computing infrastructure.

“As technology develops, we must pursue innovation that is efficient, environmentally responsible and accessible—not only to the most technologically advanced countries, but also to developing nations,” he added.

Indonesia, Abdul said, as a vast archipelago with diverse languages and communities, understood the importance of inclusion.

“Meaningful digital transformation must ensure that people outside major cities also have access to credible information. No country, community or voice should be left behind,” Abdul Hakim said.

News agencies, he said, might operate in different languages and serve different communities.

“However, we share a responsibility to help people understand one another through facts, context and mutual respect,” Abdul added.

He acknowledged that technology made the media faster and intelligent systems made it smarter, but said trust gave the media meaning.

“Let us build that trust together. Please also allow me to extend my warmest congratulations to Xinhua News Agency on its 90th anniversary: ‘Xinhua she, sheng ri kuai le’,” Abdul said.

Xinhua Deputy Editor-in-Chief Ren Weidong urged representatives of the news agencies attending the forum to use it as a starting point for uniting their resolve and working together to contribute ideas and wisdom towards safeguarding global security and promoting sustainable development.

“Let us contribute to upholding the shared values of all humanity and to promoting a community with a shared future for humanity,” Ren said at the event.

The World Media Summit brought together nearly 500 delegates from around 330 mainstream media organisations, think tanks, government agencies and international organisations from 112 countries and territories worldwide.

Topics discussed included “AI for All and Global Media Transformation”, “Media Dialogue and Cooperation for a Safer World”, “AI-Powered Communication to Expand Inter-civilisational Exchange”, “AI+ and the Future of Global Communication Governance”, and “The Beijing Approach: Understanding Chinese Modernisation”.

Delegates were also due to visit several sites in Beijing during the summit.

First proposed in 2009, the World Media Summit has become an important global platform for high-level media exchange and cooperation.