Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Butti Al Hamed, president of the National Media Authority, in cooperation with the Arab Youth Centre, launched the ‘Smart Media Agents’ challenge, calling on participants in the eighth edition of the Arab Media Leaders Programme for Young People to develop artificial intelligence agents that offer practical solutions to real needs in media work, improve performance efficiency and content quality, enhance credibility, combat misinformation and save time.
The challenge was launched during a session in Dubai attended by Dr Sultan bin Saif Al Neyadi, Minister of State for Youth Affairs and deputy chairman of the Arab Youth Centre.
Challenge turns media ideas into projects
The challenge gives participants the opportunity to turn their ideas into workable and developable prototypes. At its conclusion, the three best projects will be selected, with the winning projects receiving prizes and support to help them move from the idea stage to implementation and turn young people’s innovations into media solutions with a tangible impact.
During the session, Al Hamed said trust was the real capital of any media organisation, media professional or content creator, explaining that it is built through accuracy, verification, transparency and respect for the audience’s intelligence, not through speed of dissemination. He stressed that the responsibility for confronting fabricated news is not limited to refraining from reposting it, but extends to reporting it to the platforms circulating it and providing evidence that proves it is false.
He warned that repeatedly circulating false information increases its presence online and may, over time, make it appear to be fact. He urged Arab youth to prioritise verification over publication and to think before taking advantage of the reach offered by algorithms, recognising that every piece of content they publish helps shape the image of their societies and countries.
Session discusses building media organisations and public trust
The session, entitled ‘Behind the Scenes: How Media Systems Are Built from Scratch’, addressed the media’s responsibility, mechanisms for establishing trust and decision-making, as well as ways of dealing with the changes reshaping media work. It formed part of the programme’s track connecting participants with leadership experiences in the sector and broadening their understanding of the factors needed to build media organisations capable of enduring.
Al Hamed said young people were a strategic asset for the Arab media’s progress, and that building sustainable media systems begins with people, rests on a clear institutional vision and involves treating technology as a tool that strengthens the media message rather than reducing it.
Artificial intelligence increases professional responsibility
He said artificial intelligence was reshaping the media landscape and increasing the responsibility of those working in it, given the ability of its tools to produce large volumes of content and accelerate its delivery to audiences. At the same time, he warned that artificial intelligence cannot bear the ethical responsibility arising from words and their impact.
He stressed the need for media professionals to retain human judgement when using technological tools and not to treat production and distribution capabilities as a substitute for professional and ethical responsibility.
Arab youth have an opportunity to shape influential media
Al Hamed said Arab youth stood before a historic opportunity to shape media that was more influential, trusted and competitive; unified knowledge without cancelling diversity; benefited from technology without abandoning human judgement; and gave the Arab narrative a confident voice capable of reaching the world. He urged young people to tell the stories of their countries, introduce their identities and cultures, and work to bring those stories to communities unfamiliar with them.
He also stressed the need to present content in ways that take account of differences in audiences’ ages and backgrounds, keep pace with rapid changes and constantly seek new ways of presenting media material. The president of the National Media Authority said the United Arab Emirates, guided by its leadership’s vision, had placed young people at the top of its priorities, viewing investment in their minds and energy as the most effective investment in the nation’s strength and the sustainability of its progress.
He added that the country had provided young people with an environment that opens up opportunities, develops talents and gives ambitions room to become achievements. He said this approach had helped prepare a generation that was a partner in shaping the future, possessed knowledge and the tools of the age, and held ambitions that extended beyond the present.
He said this made young people an active force in renewing the nation’s progress, guardians of the continuity of its achievements and creators of the future reach of its influence. Al Hamed addressed the sector’s growing economic dimensions, saying that media was no longer an activity based on content alone, but had become an integrated economy in which technology, innovation and creativity converged, expanding the opportunities available to younger generations.
He added that the gaming and interactive content sector was leading this landscape, with annual growth of 12.1% through 2031, after its contribution reached 3.4 billion dirhams. He said these figures reflected the expansion of the content economy and the transformation of media and technical skills into economic value and new opportunities.
The session formed part of the Arab Youth Centre’s efforts to prepare young talent capable of addressing the issues concerning their societies and equipped with the media skills needed to cover those issues professionally and responsibly. The eighth edition of the Arab Media Leaders Programme for Young People is attended by 50 young men and women representing 18 Arab countries, with activities taking place from 27 September to 15 October.
The programme includes practical training, meetings with leaders and experts, and field visits to media organisations.
During the programme, participants develop final media projects in preparation for presenting them to an evaluation panel at its conclusion.
