President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali has called on Caribbean broadcasters to use artificial intelligence as a tool to stregthen journalism rather than let it erode the region’s identify.
He was at the time, delivering the keynote address at the opening of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union’s 57th Annual General Assembly in Georgetown on Tuesday night.
Speaking under the theme “Caribbean Media and AI” at the Arthur Chung Conference , President Ali identified four challenges he said now define the future of regional broadcasting: economic sustainability, audience, fragmentation, misinformation fuelled by AI and technological transformation.
President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali addressing the formal opening of the 57th Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) Annual General Assembly
He cited Media Institute of the Caribbean estimates that between 15 and 25 per cent of advertising revenue in some Caribbean markets is now shifting to global platforms such as Google, and pointed to S/&P Global data showing pay-TV penetration across Latin America and the Caribbean fell from 42 per cent to 31 per cent between 2016 and 2024 as streaming grew.
On disinformation, President Ali referenced Ofcom research showing 43 percent of people aged 16 and over encountered a deepfake in the past six months, while only 9 percent felt confident they could identify one.
“Never allow the technology to become the journalist,” President Ali said, adding that AI can transcribe, translate and analyse data, but cannot replace editorial judgement or human experience.
He called on the CBU to champion clear standards for disclosure of AI-generated content and to help Caribbean media organisations develop new revenue models suited to the streaming era.
A section of members of the media at the gathering on Tuesday evening at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC)
The AGA opening ceremony also featured the induction of the late Professor Aggrey Brown and the late Ricky Singh into the CBU Media Hall of Fame, and the presentation of the inaugural Caribbean Defender of Media Freedom Award to Belizean journalist Jules Vasquez.
