KUCHING: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in generating news content must be accompanied by thorough fact-checking to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information delivered to the public.

Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI), Ainol Amriz Ismail, said that although AI is increasingly used in the field of journalism, it should never be fully relied upon without human verification.

“Never place 100 per cent trust in AI. Sometimes, if the prompt given is vague, the output may completely miss the intended meaning,” he said during a sharing session at the Sarawak Media Conference 2025, held at a leading hotel here on Wednesday.

The conference was officially launched by the Sarawak Premier, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Openg.

Ainol further highlighted the worrying rise in the spread of false information, particularly through the use of “deepfake” technology, which can manipulate a person’s facial features and voice to convincingly resemble a real individual.

In the Malaysian context, he revealed that around 80 per cent of journalists have begun using AI in their content production process.

However, only about 65 per cent of readers say they trust content generated using such technology.

“In the past, we would visit libraries and refer to books or archived newspapers to fact-check.

“Today, everything is available at our fingertips through AI. But still, we must verify the truthfulness of the information before publishing it,” he stressed.

He added that today’s journalists should also develop a basic understanding of data analysis, such as sentiment analysis, to gauge audience reactions and preferences towards specific articles or issues. -UKASnews

Photo credit: Sarawak Edition