Prof. Dr. Amin Wafi, a Professor of Media and Communication Technology at the Department of Journalism and Media in the Faculty of Arts at the Islamic University of Gaza, participated in the second international conference on “Arab Media and Sustainable Development Requirements in Light of Smart Technologies,” organized by the College of Media at the University of Iraq in cooperation with the Arab Association for Scientific Research in Communication Sciences, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Sunni Waqf Office.
The conference was attended by His Excellency Dr. Na’im Al-Aboodi, Minister of Higher Education; Professor Dr. Ali Saleh Al-Jubouri, President of the University of Iraq; Dr. Ithar Tariq Al-Obaidi, Dean of the College of Media at the University of Iraq; Dr. Mai Al-Abdullah, President of the Arab Association; and a large number of representatives, researchers, professors, and students from Arab countries.
Several Arab countries, in addition to Iraq, participated in the conference’s events, which took place over two days on March 15th and 16th, 2023, including Algeria, Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, and Tunisia.
Prof. Dr. Wafi participated in a scientific study that addressed the challenges of using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in producing news content and their impact on the professional practice of communication professionals. He presented a vision of the ethical, institutional, administrative, organizational, human, political, and economic challenges that arise from applying AI in media work during news content production.
The conference attendees discussed more than 67 peer-reviewed scientific studies over two days, both in person and online, that examined media issues that simulate the needs of communication and media in the age of AI. These included the challenges of employing AI technologies in producing news content and its impact on the professional practice of communication professionals; deepfakes as one of the AI algorithms; the role of communication and media and new trends; information technology and the knowledge economy; the controversial relationship and future vision; the role of academic institutions in developing citizenship values and consolidating a culture of social peace in the Iraqi education system; and the economics and entrepreneurship of communication media in the American industry as a model. “On the ensemble machine learning approach: Fake news classified based on features and extra action.”
The conference attendees concluded by formulating recommendations as a prelude to additional scientific conferences and for decision-makers in Arab countries to benefit from in formulating educational, economic, and media policies. The recommendations included: emphasizing the importance of media and communication research institutions benefiting from artificial intelligence technologies, the necessity of establishing an Arab forum for exchanging and discussing the latest scientific research in the field of media and artificial intelligence, inviting government institutions and professional sectors to collaborate with academic and media institutions to benefit from artificial intelligence research, urging government institutions to take a leading role in sustainable development and to employ artificial intelligence capabilities in support of development through media, emphasizing the importance of providing sufficient financial support to enhance media capabilities and equip them with the necessary expertise to contribute to sustainable development, the need for marketing institutions to participate in developing future plans to activate the benefits of scientific research on enhancing cognitive capacities related to artificial intelligence, urging government institutions to work seriously to address the challenges facing the possible benefits of artificial intelligence technologies, the necessity of developing educational curricula related to sustainable development and artificial intelligence and disseminating them among educational institutions to ensure the dissemination of sustainable technology concepts, and the importance of holding a series of conferences to address modern technology issues in the media process.
At the end of the conference sessions and activities, Professor Dr. Amin Wafi presented the shield of the Islamic University of Gaza to Dr. Ithar Tareq Al-Obaidi, Dean of the Faculty of Information at the University of Iraq, on behalf of Professor Dr. Ali Saleh Al-Jubouri, President of the University of Iraq.
It is worth mentioning that the participation of Professor Dr. Wafi in the conference came at the invitation of the Faculty of Information at the University of Iraq, in addition to his membership in the scientific committee of the conference.
