As part of his participation in the 62nd General Assembly of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), held in Mongolia from September 11 to 15, 2025, under the theme “The Role of Media in Preserving National and Cultural Heritage,” the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) Director General, Engineer Abdelrahim Suleiman, delivered a presentation titled “Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Broadcasting and Content Creation” during the Assembly’s second professional discussion session on “Ethical Frameworks, Transparency, and Innovation in Integrating AI into Broadcasting and Content Creation.”
ASBU Leads Digital Transformation in Arab Media
During his presentation, Engineer Suleiman provided participants with an overview of ASBU and its pioneering role in the digital transformation of Arab media. He outlined how ASBU is actively leveraging AI technologies in news exchange through its cloud platform, satellite broadcasting, professional training, and by strengthening regional and international partnerships.
He also highlighted the outcomes of the Third Arab Media Congress, organized by ASBU under the theme “Media in the Artificial Intelligence Era: Opportunities and Challenges.”
Key takeaways from the conference included:
- Encouraging ASBU member organizations to adopt AI tools
- Building capacities through training, supporting startups, creating innovation incubators, and promoting a digital culture around AI
- Utilizing AI for news verification, real-time translation, transcription, disaster prediction, and climate change monitoring
- Developing comprehensive national and regional legislation for AI in media
- Adopting ethical charters within media institutions and forming review committees to ensure fairness, transparency, and accountability
AI Integration Across ASBU Systems and Events
Engineer Suleiman added that ASBU is effectively and strategically deploying AI across various services and events it organizes:
On its cloud-based content exchange platform, AI is used for automatic indexing, metadata enrichment, transcription, translation (text and speech), and text summarization
In 2025, the ASBU Media Training Academy organized five specialized training sessions on AI, benefiting 89 media professionals
At the Arab Radio and Television Festival, AI was employed in award announcements, live translation, dynamic data visualization, and text-to-speech conversion to enhance accessibility
ASBU also provides technical consultancy to help member broadcasters adopt AI-driven workflows and develop innovation projects
A Call for Global Collaboration in Broadcasting
In concluding his presentation, Engineer Suleiman emphasized that the future of broadcasting in the age of AI hinges on how this technology is used. He stressed that innovation must always go hand-in-hand with responsibility, ethics, and public trust. A responsible approach to AI in broadcasting must strike a balance between innovation, ethics, trust, and cultural diversity.
He further stated that AI’s role should extend beyond improving efficiency and creativity; it should also be used in news verification and combating disinformation. This calls for training journalists and media professionals on both the technical and ethical dimensions of AI usage.
ASBU Director General called on other broadcasting unions worldwide to collaborate through dialogue, knowledge sharing, and the establishment of joint governance frameworks. He advocated for the development of a human-centric AI-powered media ecosystem that upholds credibility, inclusivity, and sustainability.