THE DIGITAL tide sweeping through the world’s newsrooms has reached Nigeria’s shores, not as a gentle wave but as a surging current of artificial intelligence.
In this rapidly changing landscape, a critical question hangs in the balance: will this powerful technology elevate journalism or erode its very foundations? This was the urgent dilemma interrogated recently during a virtual conversation hosted by the Safer-Media Initiative (SMI), an Abuja-based non-profit media organisation on Thursday, December 11, 2025.
Held under the theme: “Artificial Intelligence and Media: Navigating the Present, Shaping the Future,” the conversation marked the launch of SMI’s AI and Media (AIM) Project, supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).
The discussion centred the practical or lived realities of Nigerian journalism in a world increasing being altered or shaped by the nuances of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Mr Peter Iorter, SMI’s Executive Director, set the perfect tone of the engaging discussion by framing the emergent AI era as a definitive crossroads. “The core principles of journalism remain steadfast,” he noted, as he added: “yet audience preferences, formats, channels, and revenue streams are shifting rapidly. At the heart of this transformation lies technology — and one of its most disruptive forces is Artificial Intelligence.”
Capturing the dual-edged nature of AI, Iorter stated: “AI promises efficiency, but it also tests our ethics”, a statement that illustrates the existing tension between the immense potential and profound risks embedded in AI usage.
Interestingly, Iorter’s thematic framing of the AI paradox echoed through the two hours that the engagement lasted.
A particularly stark warning came from Adaora Onyechere of Gender Strategy Advancement International (GSAI), who disclosed how algorithmic bias is compounding historical inequalities.
According to her, AI story-ranking systems often prioritise content featuring male figures, while downplaying stories about women, just as she cited the rise of gendered deepfake harassment, warning that automation threatens to displace women from roles they predominantly occupy, like transcription and editorial support.
“AI is quietly widening gender inequality in newsrooms,” Onyechere declared, calling for gender audits of AI tools, inclusive datasets, and diverse leadership. Her call to action was unequivocal: “AI will not slow down, but we must shape it, not allow it to shape us.”
The ethical imperative was further articulated by Oluseyi Olufemi, Country Director of Dataphyte. Drawing from experience with Dataphyte’s ‘Nubia’ AI tool, Olufemi illustrated AI’s capacity for research, transcription, and multi-lingual storytelling. Yet, he cautioned: “The ethics of AI are as important as the economics of efficiency.”
For Olufemi, despite the advantage of speed and scale that AI brings to the newsroom, the non-negotiable bond of trust with human audience must be preserved. “Audiences must be assured,” Olufemi stated, “that a human being, not just a robot, is ultimately accountable.”
In his intervention, Iduh Lawrence Onah, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Abuja-based online newspaper, National Record, voiced a widespread concern about the implications of imported AI systems. He warned that while AI has improved efficiency in Nigerian newsrooms, there also exists serious policy gaps.
“AI saves time, no doubt. But it demands accountability,” Onah said, noting that many reporters now forward AI-processed stories without fact-checking, leading to errors such as outdated or inaccurate information.
He warned that without clear newsroom policies, journalists face ethical dilemmas, especially around accuracy, transparency, disclosure of AI use and editorial oversight.
Onah also highlighted safety risks, especially for investigative reporting, with the possibility of AI tools storing data on external servers that could expose sources, and deepfake content being weaponised against journalists.
He added that foreign-trained AI systems often misinterpret Nigerian contexts, threaten originality and erode audience trust.
“The danger is not AI itself, but the absence of policies guiding its use,” he stressed, calling for frameworks inspired by UNESCO and the BBC to ensure transparency, human oversight, data protection and regular training.
Though the discourse, certainly, was not exhaustive, it no doubt brings to focus some urgent challenges, making it possible to identify the way forward – robust governance frameworks, comprehensive training, and a steadfast commitment to human oversight.
This much Mr Iorter confirmed, noting that the insights from the dialogue would directly fuel the AIM Project’s next phase that will include a series of in-person training workshops in Abuja, Lagos, and Benin City, which he said will be supplemented by virtual sessions, and the development of a practical AI-use framework tailored for newsrooms, especially smaller outfits lacking internal guidelines.
