Kunming: Media organisations and national governments within the ASEAN+3 framework are being urged to reinforce collaboration to combat the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), which, while offering substantial benefits, also presents significant risks.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Chan Aun Kuang, editor-in-chief of Sin Chew Daily, highlighted AI’s vast potential and suggested that ASEAN countries, alongside China, Japan, and South Korea, could adopt a cooperative approach to optimise AI benefits for their respective nations. He stressed the importance of caution among journalists as AI-generated fake news becomes a growing concern, necessitating joint efforts among nations to address this modern challenge. This statement was made during a dialogue session at the 11th ASEAN+3 (10+3) Media Cooperation Forum.
The forum featured a dialogue session titled ‘Foster New Growth Drivers and Share New Development Opportunities,’ which was the opening agenda of an event attended by over 100 participants from ASEAN countries, Japan, South Korea, and China. Chan discussed recent incidents in Malaysia involving AI-generated deepfake pornographic videos used for blackmailing members of Parliament and state legislators, emphasising the potential victimhood of everyone from officials to ordinary citizens when such technology is misused by criminals.
The session also included insights from other prominent speakers like Ko Ko, chairman of the Yangon Media Group; Anna Uy, a columnist for The Manila Times; and Darunee Teerapappong, a reporter for Thailand’s Daily News. Liu Yang, managing director of China’s Global Times (English Edition), moderated the discussion.
Uy highlighted promising growth drivers within the ASEAN+3 framework, such as the digital economy, e-commerce, green development, and food security. She suggested that ASEAN+3 offers a pathway for ASEAN to avoid over-reliance on non-regional markets by enhancing regional value chains. She pointed out that cultural and tourism flows are often underestimated as growth drivers and emphasized that the partnership could serve as a model for South-South cooperation and a multipolar global economy that benefits developing nations.
The 2025 Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road, which commenced in Kunming, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, brought together over 200 representatives from 87 countries, international and regional organisations, and 165 media outlets globally. The event was jointly hosted by People’s Daily, the Communist Party of China (CPC) Yunnan Provincial Committee, and the People’s Government of Yunnan Province.