By CIPESA Writer |

The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) has joined a conglomeration of  international organisations and experts to develop a charter aimed at guiding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the media. 

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSJ), the group that is coordinating the development of the Charter, 16 partner organisations, as well as 31 media, AI and academic professionals representing 18 different nationalities, are involved in the process. The CIPESA Executive Director, Dr. Wairagala Wakabi, is among the experts on the committee that is led by journalist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa.

The RSJ stated that the growing interest in the project highlights the real need to clearly and collaboratively develop an ethical framework to safeguard information integrity, at a time when generative AI and other algorithm-based technologies are being rapidly deployed in the news and information sphere.

Part of the committee’s responsibility is to develop a set of principles, rights, and obligations for information professionals regarding the use of AI-based systems, by the end of 2023. This is a response to the realisation that the rapid deployment of AI in the media industry presents a major threat to information integrity.

See here details about the initiative, the partner organisations and experts.