00:00Now is the time for us all to come together.
00:02The widespread adoption of social media platforms, digital platforms and AI is going to cause
00:09us great consequences unless we increase AI literacy.
00:15If we don't get this right now, we are going to really feel the impacts of this for many
00:20decades to come.
00:25The third Shushu Global Media Forum Strengthening Information and Media Resilience in the Age
00:29of AI opened with a clear warning, a digital transformation is underway and our response
00:35must be informed, ethical and urgent.
00:37AI is both a threat and an opportunity.
00:40It's a threat if it's not used properly, if it's used in a way that diminishes the public's
00:45trust in the media and it's an opportunity if it's used to enhance the newsroom, if it's
00:50used to streamline some processes.
00:53Held on the 150th anniversary of Azerbaijan's first newspaper, the forum gathered over 140
00:58guests from 52 countries, including 30 plus news agencies and seven international organizations
01:04to address the rapid evolution of media in the digital age.
01:08Shusha Media Forum already became a traditional.
01:14So I hope that this tradition will continue.
01:17And by the time passes, we had more guests, more geographical coverage.
01:23This once again shows that there is a big need for open discussions in the friendly atmosphere
01:31on the most important topics, not only the agenda of media communities, but issues of global
01:39agenda.
01:40Discussions at the forum explored how nations can build media literacy and safeguard accuracy
01:45while navigating disruption.
01:48Get on board or you will be left behind because fundamentally the people that will thrive are
01:52the people that adapt, the people that take these new technologies, new skills on board.
01:57For countries like Azerbaijan, the digital media revolution is also a moment of global connection,
02:02strengthening links between local voices and global narratives and how to work with AI.
02:07We are very proud that a lot of international journalists and media professionals are coming
02:12to Azerbaijan, exchanging ideas, recommendations, and their experiences, including their mistakes
02:18as well.
02:19AI is a reality of the new world.
02:20We cannot fight against the AI.
02:22It's a technological development.
02:24Fighting AI, it means that we are fighting against innovation, against technology, but we
02:28should adapt ourselves.
02:30How we can work together with AI, how we can effectively employ it for the benefit of mankind, including
02:36the professional journalism and media.
02:38As the digital age redraws the map of influence, new regions are stepping forward to lead the
02:43conversation.
02:44In a world of fragmented narratives, I believe we need more spaces like this.
02:50The Caucasus and also Central Asia are no longer peripheral, let's say, regions of the
02:57global narratives and they are in the heart, how to say, of this connectivity.
03:05I mean, they are emerging like a hub for connectivity, for energy and even for geopolitics.
03:13When truth becomes uncertain, every pillar of society feels a strain.
03:17If we don't get this right, the public, the citizens won't know what's right or wrong.
03:24So it means that governments will struggle to communicate their messages.
03:29Governors will struggle to promote their products, you know, and journalism will be under threat.
03:36Those who gathered here will return to newsrooms, classrooms and boardrooms across the world with
03:41a clearer sense of what's at stake.
03:43I wish I could see people making better decisions for themselves based on accurate and trustworthy
03:54information.
03:55If the goal is better decisions built on truth, the challenge begins with how we educate the
04:00next generation and the habits they're already forming.
04:02What we're finding, and I'm finding this with my own students and work with young people, is that it's
04:08becoming the go-to.
04:09So thinking about tasks and learning how to do the task and then maybe using AI to collaborate
04:15on that task, it's not happening.
04:17So over time, students and younger people are just going to that platform for things as simple
04:22as introducing themselves.
04:23You know, in a class activity, then they can't sort of think and bring the words together.
04:28So it's impacting professional writing and creativity, critical thought, all these sort
04:33of aspects where we need, we need our young people to be the subject matter experts before
04:38they go to AI and use it for that task.
04:41The Third Shooter Media Forum didn't just discuss the future of journalism, it helped shape it.
04:46And for those watching closely, one message was clear, adapt fast, work together and build
04:52resilience for a digital age that won't wait.
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