IN the 1950s, a professor at Dartmouth College in the US, organised a summer workshop to develop ideas about thinking machines — choosing the name “artificial intelligence” for the project.
Then AI was just a thought, the type of idea you’d dig up in a science fiction or see in a futuristic movie.
Today, it’s our reality, marking an amazing journey from theory to practical technology.
Undoubtedly, AI represents one of humanity’s most remarkable achievements, one that has opened a plethora of benefits and possibilities.
Experts say, from its first steps in the mid-1900s to the present day, AI has rapidly transformed the world in ways unimaginable.
AI is defined as a diverse range of technologies that can be defined as ‘self-learning, adaptive systems’ driven by advancements in computer processing power and data techniques. This also includes various methods and disciplines such as vision, speech recognition, and robotics, and serves to enhance traditional human capabilities.
We anticipate AI applications to be used in diverse fields – from healthcare, finance and marketing to education, manufacturing and retailing.
In Fiji, AI has the potential to bring the country ‘on track’ regarding the fulfilment of its commitment under the Sustainable Development Goals.
It presents a powerful set of tools that could revolutionise healthcare delivery in the country by enhancing patient care, streamline operations, and advance medical research, among other things.
Government is already setting a clear direction for AI use in the next five years, prioritising it as a cornerstone of Fiji’s National Development Plan (NDP).
AI is here to stay and the benefits of AI to the country are immense. But there are disadvantages too.
This was the focus of discussions last week during the Fiji Media Association-organised Press Club night last week to celebrate the 2025 World Press Freedom Day.
Journalists mulled over the benefits of AI to the industry but not without highlighting how it could heap havoc on the good work they do.
Journos and media practitioners heard that AI made mistakes just as humans because it drew from imperfect data that humans produced.
British High Commissioner to Fiji Dr Brian Jones said trusting AI for information would be a “foolhardy path”.
“AI makes as many mistakes as humans do. It draws on imperfect data because we produce imperfect data. So, trusting it wholly for your information, your entertainment, and your education, I think would be a foolhardy path to take,” Dr Jones said.
“Probably as long as I’m alive, there will still be a role for human journalists, ensuring that it’s ethically correct, ensuring that it doesn’t harm, and ensuring that the public interest test is met.”
He said that according to Microsoft Pilot, some of the areas where AI would make significant impact by 2030 was content creation, news generation, video content and personalised news stories.
“AI will be heavily involved in generating news articles, video content and personalised news stories. AI tools will be routinely used in newsrooms to help translate content in real time and create videos with digital avatars.
“AI will tailor content to individual preferences, ensuring that users receive news and entertainment that aligns with their interests.”
This will enhance journalists’ ability to cover in-depth and investigative stories.
Former journalist and current First Secretary (Trade and Economic) at the New Zealand High Commission, Adham Crichton said AI was expected to significantly alter the media landscape, with both benefits and threats.
As such, he said journalists, who were at the frontline of the digital revolution, needed to adapt to new technologies while also maintaining their core mission of informing, investigating, and upholding public interest.
“AI provides powerful tools, on one hand, which can assist with your work, automating research, analysing data and even generating some content but with these advancements also come threats,” Mr Crichton said.
“There’s a spread of deep fakes, bias within the algorithm, and the potential for misinformation to be created faster than it can be verified.
“Journalists do more than just report facts, which is what AI can do.”
Mr Crichton added that at the end of the day journalists were not only watchdogs of governments and corporations in the town hall, “but also the very technologies that are shaping our society and your profession”.
He said misinformation and disinformation had, to some extent, continued to erode the public’s trust in the media and to be used as a pretext for repression.
“Powerful companies, including social media platforms, have not always taken adequate steps to promote information integrity or pay fairly for the content that you produce.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres believes governments of the world must all work together so that AI could bridge the gap between developed and developing countries – not widen it.
“We must prevent a world of AI “haves” and “have-nots”, Guterres said.
“It must accelerate sustainable development – not entrench inequalities.”
What we now know is this, as AI technologies become more widespread, there should be globally coordinated AI governance to maximise benefits and manage associated risks.
At the local level, this means local authorities should adopt a multi-faceted approach to AI, focusing on regulation, cybersecurity, ethical frameworks and cooperation.
At the lower level, like the newsroom where I work, we will have to seriously determine how much of AI input we should use in our work, and what specific type work, the development of a comprehensive and robust AI code of ethics and making sure there is effective advocacy around AI and its effects on journalism in general.
We will need to consider the complex relationship between artificial intelligence, media freedom and other human rights.
For work in the media, AI must be used in a way that is transparent, regulated and accountable and while we work hard to bring timely news for public consumption and shape societal narratives, journalists must not forget the need to accurate, responsible and sensitive.
Fiji Media Association General Secretary, Stanley Simpson, warns that over-reliance on artificial intelligence could threaten the very foundation of journalism in the region, if not enough is done to guard against it.
Simpson says while AI may assist with some tasks, it cannot replace the human perspective, investigative depth, and truth-seeking role that define real journalism
The bottom line is – AI is a double edged sword, it presents both significant benefits and potential risks. Advanced technology may make us appear less invincible but humans, with the power of reason. are still in control.
As we look forward to the future and celebrate AI’s revolutionary rewards, we must, at the same time, understand its dangers and many constraints. It’s not about having a fear of change as if AI is overtly evil but using it responsibly as a friend in our human journey and experience.
Until we meet on this same page, same time next week, stay blessed, stay healthy and stay safe!
