GMA holds A.I. masterclass, forms committee to create guidelines

GMA is taking artificial intelligence seriously as it holds a masterclass to better understand the technology and its impacts.

Journalists from GMA Integrated News, GMA Synergy, and GMA Regional TV attended the masterclass on Saturday, where speakers data analyst and technologist Dominic Vincet Ligot, UP College of Law Associate Professor JJ Disini and Malaysian journalist Shafizan Johari shared their insights on the technology.

Reporter Mav Gonzales, and GMA Integrated News Digilab Segment Production Specialist Gabrielle Cayetano also joined the panel of speakers.

In Vonne Aquino’s report on “24 Oras,” Saturday, GMA Network Senior Vice President and the Head of Integrated News, Regional TV and Synergy Oliver Victor B. Amoroso assured A.I. will not put workers’ jobs at risk and that employees remain the company's best assets.

A committee has also been established to further study A.I. and to create guidelines for Kapuso journalists.

“We’ve also formed a sub-committee in GMA Integrated News to take an active role in looking into A.I. in news operations to ensure that, should it be used, the technology will not compromise our non-negotiables as a news organization,” Amoroso said.

In his short talk, Ligot shared how artificial intelligence developed, and introduced what generative A.I. is and isn't.

“We have to think about how technologies evolved in the past and how we should transcend those technologies. Ganiyan din ‘yung A.I.,” he said.

Meanwhile Disini emphasized the “need for ethics in A.I. because we can’t allow people to feed their addictions, right? And because I think there are serious social problems that can arise from that.”

For her part, Mav Gonzales shared her experience in learning about A.I. from newsrooms in Singapore, saying “The first reason kung ba’t nila ginagamit ito ay to reduce effort on mundane and repetitive tasks,” she said.

“If you make the work lighter for them, then they will be able to produce better stories,” she added.

Finally, Cayetano said “A.I. cannot replace an entire generation, including Gen Z or any other generation. You just have to be part of the game and make sure you’re making use of A.I. because, after all, A.I. is worth trying out.” 

Saturday's masterclass also showed how Maia and Marco were created.

In his speech, Amoroso reminded Kapuso journalists of the network's courage in trying out new technologies.

“Lest we forget, GMA has never been afraid to take risks, to take bold, pioneering steps. The fact is A.I. is here. The responsibility of handling it lies with us. I am glad we have chosen to face it with courage,” Amoroso highlighted.

This is the second in a series of masterclasses on AI that GMA has been organizing to better understand the technology, which it has embraced as it earlier unveiled the country's first A.I. sportscasters Maia and Marco.

— Carby Basina/LA, GMA Integrated News