CMG Forum explores AI application, governance in journalism

Focusing on the development of artificial intelligence (AI), the third CMG Forum was held on Monday in Beijing.

Hosted by China Media Group (CMG), the event gathered more than 200 representatives from international organizations, multinational firms, mainstream Chinese and overseas media outlets and think tanks, who joined the event in both offline and online formats to discuss AI's application and governance in journalism.

Participants said the forum is an important platform for them to probe issues around the growing impact of AI that is shaping every facet of people's life.

"It's important, I think, for journalists, for media, that we could have collaboration with universities, with regulators, with scientists on how we could work together to understand AI better and to improve our quality better. So, I really wish to congratulate the China Media Group for having this forum. It is very, very timely," Wong Chun Wai, chairman of the Malaysian National News Agency, told the China Global Television Network (CGTN), the international broadcasting arm of CMG.

Juan Carlos Isaza, executive director of the Latin American Informative Alliance, said the forum enables media professionals to explore better integration between application of AI and efforts by human media workers.

"It's very important because we, the media outlets, have to be responsible to use it as a tool, but not replace the human being, not replace the real reporters in the field," he said.

An AI Governance Media Action Initiative was launched, joined by leading media groups from Asia, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Arab states.

Churchill Otieno, president of the African Editors Forum, said it is important for CMG, which has rich resources and experience, to carry out cooperation with other international media outlets in the era of AI.

"It's very, very clear CMG has its vision and focus on the future and it's looking at how it can use technologies to enable journalism. I think CMG has lots of liaisons through journalists across the world and I wish many of them would come and visit. I want to commend CMG and I hope they could continue to open their doors open for more journalists to come and see what they are doing," he said.

At Tuesday's plenary sessions, the attendees discussed the application and challenges of generative AI, and global cooperation in governing the technology.

CMG Forum explores AI application, governance in journalism

CMG Forum explores AI application, governance in journalism

CMG Forum explores AI application, governance in journalism

CMG Forum explores AI application, governance in journalism

China's social electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, climbed 9.0 percent year on year in the first four months of 2024, according to the National Development and Reform Commission at a press briefing on Tuesday.

Specifically, from January to April, power consumption by primary, secondary and tertiary sectors increased 10.1 percent, 7.5 percent, and 13.5 percent, respectively, spokesman Li Chao said.

China's residential power usage registered a year-on-year increase of 10.8 percent from January to April, he said.

In breakdown by regions, electricity consumption in provincial-level regions grew over 10 percent.

In April, social electricity consumption climbed 7.0 percent year on year.

From January to April, China's power generation of industrial enterprises above the designated size was 2.9329 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh), an increase of 6.1 percent year-on-year. Power generation in April was 690.1 billion kWh, up 3.1 percent.

From January to April, the National Development and Reform Commission approved 50 fixed asset investment projects, with a total investment of 320.7 billion yuan (about 45.17 billion U.S. dollars), mainly in high-tech and water conservancy industries. Among them, 20 fixed asset investment projects were approved in April, with a total investment of 115.2 billion yuan (about 16.22 billion U.S. dollars).

China's social electricity consumption up 9 pct in Jan-April