By: Demola Akinyemi Ilorin
Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kwara State Council, Mallam ‘Lanre Ahmed Abdullateef, has cautioned media practitioners that over-reliance on the usage of Artificial Intelligence (Ai)tools could erode their originality and intellectual depth.
Mallam Lanre Ahmed said this in his welcome address at a workshop titled Artificial Intelligence (AI): Is Journalism on Trial?, organised by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kwara State Council, in collaboration with E-SANAD Academy in Ilorin on Wednesday.
According to him,”as eventful as this initiative (AI) is, it comes with a lot of cost for players in the media industry. A keen observation of the application of this facility shows that creativity has been murdered.
“Some journalists, who were hitherto seen as models for greenhorns and others willing to develop their writing skills and public speaking, have sold their birthrights of quality reading and writing while relying heavily on AI to perform what they could easily do with their brains.
“They have forgotten that AI is a machine that is designed to function in the capacity of human brain.”
The NUJ Chairman also noted that,”for any critical mind among us, the advent of AI, though helpful, is being perceived as conspiracy theory of the super powers to continue to make Africa play second fiddle on the global stage.
“This is the more reason we as Journalists have to counter the narrative and apply AI with common sense so that the creativity in us, which is aided by ceaseless reading, will not die natural death.”
He also tasked,”those in the science and technology sector of this nation to develop our local Artificial Intelligence in a bid to stem the tide of influx of super powers’ invention on our soil.
“This, for me, will go a long way in addressing this age long belief that Africa is a dumping ground for the super powers.”he stressed
A Resource person at the event, Kehinde Kamaldeen in his lecture urged Media professionals in the state to embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a supportive newsroom tool while upholding the core values of accuracy, creativity and human judgment.
He also cautioned journalists against total dependence on AI-generated responses, stressing the need for thorough fact-checking before publication.
“It is not encouraging for a journalist to depend completely on AI-provided answers,” he said, noting that practitioners must give clear instructions, context and structure when using AI tools.
According to him, specifying tasks, adding constraints and defining formats would help journalists get better results from AI platforms.
He added that while AI can enhance speed and efficiency in news production, credibility must remain paramount.
“Before publishing any report, there is the need to fact-check the content to ensure its credibility,” Kamaldeen advised.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of ESANAD Consult Limited, Mr Ganiyu Yusuf Opeyemi, described AI as an assistant that must never replace professional judgment, especially as political activities begin to gather momentum ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He explained that his organisation’s initiative on responsible AI use grew from a research project that examined news transmission systems and reporting patterns in selected mainstream newspapers. The findings, he said, revealed gaps in information verification and led to the development of training programmes and products focused on fact-checking and media literacy.
“We looked at how we can use proper checking of modern information to solve contemporary problems,” he said.
“Today, we have trained students, organisations and even agencies, and we are working with government institutions, including ministries in charge of education and human capital development.”
Opeyemi warned that AI tools are prone to errors commonly referred to as “hallucinations,” where systems generate information that was not requested or may be inaccurate.
“When you use AI to generate content, it may bring in extra information you did not ask for. That is what we call hallucination,” he explained. “When hallucination happens in journalism, you have to be very careful. That is where human oversight comes in.”
He stressed that only journalists with sound professional knowledge can effectively deploy AI tools.
“AI should be your assistant. It is not to dominate you. Only the person who understands journalism very well can use AI effectively. If AI makes a mistake, an experienced journalist will know. But a beginner may assume everything it produces is correct,” he said.
Opeyemi further pointed out that AI relies on patterns drawn from existing online data and lacks the capacity to independently verify unfolding events or provide human insight from the scene of a story.
“AI will go all over the internet, look at patterns and predict outputs. But imagine something is happening here now. Can AI accurately tell you how many people are outside or give you human insight? That is the work of a journalist,” he added.
On ethical considerations, he urged practitioners to adhere strictly to newsroom policies and maintain transparency when deploying AI tools.
“Journalists today should use AI, but they should not be afraid to disclose it. That is ethical usage. Always follow your newsroom policy. If your organisation says do not use AI, then don’t. If it allows it, there must be clear guidelines on how to use it,” he advised.
He recommended that AI be used for tasks such as paraphrasing and summarising, rather than generating core information without verification.
“Let AI add value to what you are doing. Don’t let it replace human responsibility,” he emphasised.
