Dipo Olowookere
By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
As part of its initiative and ongoing capacity building programme, Nigerian telecommunication giant, 9mobile, recently equipped some journalists with Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills to improve their professional practice.
The session, which was themed Responding to Emerging Challenges in Journalism with the use of AI-powered tools, was set up to acquaint journalists with emerging trends in journalism.
Widely attended by journalists across print and online news platforms, the program was facilitated by Mr Usifo Omozokpea, an experienced multimedia producer and social media strategist who is the current Audience Development Manager (West Africa) at The Conversation Africa.
Speaking at the training, Mr Omozokpea pointed out the specific application and tools of AI such as expert systems, natural language processing, speech recognition, and machine vision can be explored by media practitioners to enhance their performance.
He said that some of these tools have been designed for some specific media needs to ease data processing and reporting, adding that journalists should leverage these various AI tools.
Commenting on the training, the Executive Director, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, 9mobile, Mr Abdulrahman Ado, said, “This clearly shows that learning is a continuum in order to stay relevant as media practitioners in this emerging Artificial Intelligence (AI) era.”
Represented by 9mobile’s Public Relations Lead, Mrs Chineze Amanfo, Mr Ado noted that the knowledge gained by participants during the training will go a long way in working with their colleagues and approach to the noble profession.
“The need to consistently upscale skill-set in terms of modern technological tools remains crucial,” he added.
