From right: Wong, Tham, Wei and some of the journalists at the briefing.
KUALA LUMPUR: Huawei Malaysia is ready to assist Malaysian media companies to gear up for their artificial intelligence (AI) plans in order to stay ahead of the digital curve and enhance efficiency.
The Chinese multinational information and communication technology (ICT) solutions provider invited about 100 media practitioners to Huawei Malaysia’s Customer Solution Innovation Centre (CSIC) where they were given a tour of solutions including that of its AI tools.
This included multilingual digital avatars for news reading, AI translation tools and instant transcribing from audio to text for interviews conducted by journalists.
An example that was showcased was that of Bernama chairman and Star Media Group adviser Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai’s avatar speaking fluent Mandarin, which he is not proficient in.
The avatar was created for an event he attended in China.
“In the case of Bernama, Huawei has come to assist us with some training on Cloud and AI.
“So, the video using the avatar is the result of the training in collaboration with Huawei Malaysia,” Wong said at a Concorde Club session on “AI and the Media: The Future” yesterday.
This illustrated an example of what AI can do to help media companies improve the efficiency and speed of news and content delivery.
The technology would allow a digital avatar to become the host of a talk show, or reading the prime news in Bahasa Malaysia from a script in English.
Media practitioners can also use AI tools to transcribe an hour-long interview recording transcribed to text within seconds.
In fact, Huawei has started working with Bernama, providing AI literacy and cloud training.
“We can invite media companies to sit down with us to understand their environment and their exact needs.
“This is important as the planning for the tools needed for their individual organisations would depend on their focus areas,” Huawei Cloud Malaysia vice-president Andy Wei told the media at the session.
“Some customers may be focused on production while others may focus on translation.
“They all have different requirements. And lastly, there must be training on how to use the AI. This is very important.
“Then we will work with all the stakeholders – the media companies, our partners and set up the platform,” he added.
Meanwhile, Huawei International Pte Ltd business development manager for Asia-Pacific Cloud Business, Thomas Tham, said the relationship between AI and media production is multifaceted and evolving rapidly.
He said AI-driven automation streamlines workflows in media production, reducing costs and time spent on repetitive tasks.
“This allows creatives to focus more on innovative aspects of content creation rather than administrative duties,” he said.
However, he highlighted that the integration of AI in media production raises ethical considerations such as bias in algorithms, copyright issues and the impact on traditional job roles within the industry.
“Balancing technological advancement with ethical standards remains a critical consideration,” he added.
That said, the benefits of using AI are tremendous.
Tham said over 80% of marketers attested that AI tools have streamlined operations, saving valuable time.
According to a Hootsuite survey, 75% of media practitioners intend to use AI for comprehensive text revisions by 2024, marking a 103% increase from 2023.
