The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Modern Media
As technology continues to evolve across various sectors, industries are adopting innovative strategies to achieve sustainability, efficiency, and faster results. At the heart of this transformation is Artificial Intelligence (AI), a powerful tool that is now influencing nearly every field. In the media industry, AI has become an essential component, reshaping traditional practices and redefining the future of storytelling and content creation.
AI in Radio Production
At Radio Africa Group, management has actively promoted the integration of AI into the radio department. Senior radio producer Jacky Stan notes that AI has taken over several aspects of production work, significantly improving efficiency and streamlining workflows. She recalls how the senior manager repeatedly emphasized that AI is the future, sharing relevant links with the team.
Initially, the concept seemed foreign, but after the company invested in ElevenLabs, an AI voice generator tool, the team embraced it. Most of the production work, including classifieds, promos, and voice-overs, is now AI-generated, leading to improved quality and reduced costs by minimizing the need for human voiceover artists.
Stan highlights that AI makes her job easier, especially when clients require urgent production. “If there’s a scarcity of voices, AI comes in handy,” she says. Through the use of the voice tool, she can generate voices for both genders, which suits her commercial needs.
However, Stan warns about the potential misuse of AI. “Ethical safeguards should be in place to ensure that people’s voices are not misused, especially at a time when AI can clone voices.”
Overall, Stan praises AI for enhancing her creativity, describing their relationship as symbiotic. “The more you prompt it, the more it understands your thinking and needs,” she explains.
Lorna Mainga, a radio music scheduler, also sees the benefits of AI-generated music. She notes that songs played on air have received positive feedback due to their high production quality. “A song’s success is closely tied to its production,” she says. “If a producer uses AI appropriately and still understands what people like, the song will do well.”
Mainga doesn’t see AI as a threat to music production or artistes’ chances of receiving radio airplay. Instead, she believes it will replace lazy artistes who are unwilling to embrace emerging technologies. “I don’t want to attend a concert with AI-generated music; I want to experience the human voice,” she adds. However, she believes AI and human creativity can work together to create richer and more compelling music.
AI in Newsrooms
Allan Kisia, a digital and print journalist with the Star, uses AI tools to edit stories and research background information that enriches his reporting. He says AI has made work in the newsroom easier by quickly providing key information while writing stories. It also helps in devising headlines and suggesting angles and ideas for stories.
Mark Gitau, a renowned Kiswahili newsreader on Radio Jambo, says AI has simplified the translation of news items. He commends the development of AI tools that understand Kiswahili, making his work easier and allowing efficient transcription of audio to text for proper scripting.
Paul Muchoki, a news anchor on Inooro TV, uses AI to gather information and compare it with other platforms to create comprehensive reports. “It helps me simplify voluminous documents, though I must do a fact-check as it can provide inaccurate information,” he explains.
Despite working for a vernacular station, Muchoki encourages colleagues to embrace AI, saying the future is AI as more tools are being developed for vernacular languages.
AI in Media Schools
Roy Khaemba, a media school lecturer, says AI uptake in media schools is steadily increasing, with many students already incorporating the technology into their coursework. “Students mainly use AI to edit their projects and it also helps provide ideas that enhance their creativity,” he says.
However, he notes that growing reliance on AI is making some students lazy and weakening their commitment to rigorous research and independent thinking. He emphasizes the need to regulate AI usage to prevent abuse, calling for stronger collaboration among stakeholders to develop clear and adaptive guidelines.
Kevin Kabue, an IT expert, says AI’s applications extend beyond media to sectors such as medicine, agriculture, and hospitality. He stresses that AI is not perfect and must be used carefully. “You have to train AI to help you achieve your goals,” he says. “AI doesn’t know your end goal, you do.”
Kabue echoes concerns that AI can be misused, particularly in the media industry, where it can create fake news, images, and videos that appear authentic. He urges professionals to verify the accuracy and objectivity of AI-generated information.
The Future of AI in Journalism
Francis Mureithi, digital editor at Radio Africa Group, says AI has been particularly helpful in automating tasks traditionally done manually by journalists. “AI can help newsrooms automate functions that previously took journalists a lot of time,” he says. For example, in editing, a sub-editor doesn’t need to spend 15 minutes refining a story. With the right prompts, AI can edit the story perfectly to your specifications.
Mureithi estimates the adoption rate of AI in the newsroom at 30% of the workforce in media houses embracing it. He believes some organizations fear the technology and potential copyright challenges. However, he argues that avoiding AI reflects a lack of forward thinking.
He urges journalists to embrace AI or risk losing their jobs. “If you are a journalist and you don’t know how to use AI, you are likely going to be replaced by a journalist who knows how to use it,” he says. However, he points out ethical issues as a major challenge if AI is not properly utilized.
