African media organisations must urgently rethink their approach to artificial intelligence (AI), revenue generation and editorial practices to survive the changing media space, Richard Ikiebe, chairman of the board of directors of BusinessDay Media, has said.
He said this while speaking at the Pan-Atlantic University media roundtable webinar themed ‘The Future of African Media: AI, Monetisation, and Editorial Integrity,’ where he warned that the rapid rise of AI is creating new challenges for media organisations already struggling with technology disruption and declining revenues.
Ikiebe noted that AI is beginning to create a world where content creators risk losing their unique voices and identities as machines replicate human styles.
“AI is beginning to clone us to all look alike,” Ikiebe said, stressing that one of the biggest questions facing the industry is what has happened to the money that once sustained journalism.
He identified four major crisis points confronting African media which are technology shift, trust crisis, business model crisis, and capability crisis.
