Religious Coalition Trains Journalists on Artificial Intelligence in Rivers 

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt 

A non-governmental organisation, Nigeria Religious Coalition on Artificial Intelligence (NRCAI) in collaboration with Future of Life Institute, has organised a one-day training on AI and Religion for journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The coalition comprising of Christian and Islamic religious leaders, also trained the journalists on effective reporting of NRCAI’s position on reducing AI dependence in Nigeria.

Speaking during the training workshop, the convener, Director, Christian Council of Nigeria, Institute of Church and Society, Ibadan, Very Rev. Kolade Fadahunsi, said the objective of the programme was to encourage journalists to look at the responsible use of artificial intelligence in Nigeria, achieving morality and development of the country.

He said “This training is to actually encourage journalists to look at the responsible use of artificial intelligence in Nigeria, look at how we can ethically sound the usage of artificial intelligence so that the artificial intelligence that will come to this space through the content will be the one that supports morality, that’s accountable, that is transparent, and that will protect our humanity as people of God in the country”.

He stated that the usage of AI should not cause tension and that will divide the people anymore, but will give supremacy to God and also place humanity as being, taking dominion over machine.

He stressed that “We don’t want artificial intelligence that reduces the intelligence of human in the area of control and also super intelligence that will now govern man. And as journalists, we want analytical thinking to still be the order of the day, not those things that people put there and you cannot verify”. 

He encouraged the journalists on “Fact-checking and also working against faked reporting, especially in the area of representing and presenting us. So changing narrative from who we are to who we are not is not what we want to see.”

Fadahunsi further urged journalists in their reportage influence an objective, a country that is consciously guiding the usage of artificial intelligence and also that can decide what comes in and what should not spoken about the country. 

To the government, he advised “The Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), a national center for artificial intelligence and robotics, as agencies of government should actually sit up and bring to fore implementation of provisions in the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025 that talks about artificial intelligence expert group and artificial intelligence commission.

“When these agencies are in place, they will be able to monitor, evaluate and also implement penalties on behalf of defaulters and largely they will be able to regulate what comes into the country and how we use artificial intelligence across borders, be it in journalism, be it in healthcare, be it in education, be it in agriculture, in every aspect and spheres of our lives. 

“They will set regulations and there will be penalties for those who default. So those recommendations in the strategy must not just end up in the paper but it has to be implemented and bring about constructive use in the country”, Fadahunsi added.

He explained that NRCAI advocates for ethical of AI, support AI policy that highlights values such as justice, compassion, accountability and human dignity as core principles that guide ethical AI development and use in Nigeria.

Speaking also in an interview with journalists at the workshop, Chief Imam of Imo State, Alhaji Suleiman Yusuf Njoku, said since journalists are the heartbeat of news spread, “we encourage them to spread the truth and then be honest in their receiving information and spreading. Make sure that what they spread is the truth.

“Also, as a journalist, you will account for all what you have spread as news before God on the day of judgment. And it will be part of your judgment.  So, one has to see it as the work of God. You are doing the work of God. As an Imam, I am doing the work of God. So, if we look at it that way, we will be saved in the hereafter”, the Imam advised.