Speaking at the opening of a three-day training session for reporters and editors of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, Dr Ayiku noted that avoiding AI would mean missing out on transformative opportunities in journalism.

“AI is not going to replace journalists or take their jobs away from them. Rather, if you don’t know how to use AI, that’s where you’re going to have a challenge, because the tools are there for journalists to use to enhance their work,” he stated.

He traced the historical evolution of media; from its print origins to the digital age, and stressed the importance of developing ethical policies for AI use in the newsroom.

“We need to have an established policy on the ethical use of AI in the newsroom, because we cannot run away from it,” he said.

“We shouldn’t be shy about saying we are using AI because it has come to stay and it is improving over and over.”

Dr Ayiku highlighted the impact of social media on news consumption patterns and urged media houses to reposition themselves to meet changing audience expectations.

Explaining the concept of “Answer Engine Optimisation,” the consultant encouraged media organisations to optimise their digital platforms to respond swiftly to search queries.

Answer engine optimisation is a digital marketing strategy focused on optimising content to be directly featured in search engine answers, such as AI overviews, featured snippets, and voice search results.

It focuses on getting a particular content to be cited as the definitive answer to a specific query.

The session introduced participants to AI tools and applications, including Canva AI for visual content creation, techniques for writing effective prompts, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot for editing, and Google Notebook LM for generating podcasts.

Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, the General Manager, GNA, said the training was designed to enhance staff skills and position the Agency as a leading brand in Ghana’s media space and beyond.

He urged journalists to apply the knowledge acquired as managers continued to support professional development initiatives.