Kuala lumpur: Media organisations are being urged to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) not just for newsroom automation but also for monetising decades of archived data and audience insights to ensure long-term business sustainability.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, AI and digital transformation specialist Charles Gregory emphasized the untapped potential within media companies' datasets. These valuable datasets can be repackaged for advertisers, businesses, and specialised industries, providing a competitive edge that influencers and other digital platforms do not possess. Gregory highlighted, "Your data, your thing that you compile, I think that's a goldmine that a lot of media probably have not tapped into yet. we use AI as a complementary, as a supplement to achieve what we want to do," after participating as a panelist at the National Journalists' Day 2026 Media Forum titled 'Shaping the Future of Malaysian Media in the Digital and AI Era.'

Gregory advised that organisations should first identify their objectives, identity, and business direction before incorporating AI tools, underscoring that technology should enhance human leadership rather than replace it. He stated, "But if the thing is opposite, we focus only on AI, then we forget about the people, the management, the culture and the identity that media has. Objectives are very important."

He further elaborated on the evolution of AI in media, drawing parallels to past technological shifts involving print, radio, television, and the internet. "We just need to go back to history, understand how they do, how they evolve, and use the same concept with AI. Then use AI to help you do that, because AI is very powerful," Gregory said.

However, Gregory also cautioned against excessive reliance on AI, warning that it could become costly and risky if organisations fail to assess long-term returns on investment (ROI). He pointed out that increased dependence on AI platforms might lead to rising operational costs, system vulnerabilities, cybersecurity concerns, and potential operational disruptions over time. "People are talking about automation, but they do not calculate the ROI. In the beginning, it's always cheap. It's probably very free. But the more dependent we are, it increases (costs)," he noted, comparing it to pricing patterns seen in digital platforms and utility services.

Meanwhile, during a sharing session, Huawei Malaysia Cloud Solution Architect Cheah Chern Eu noted that media organisations in Malaysia are increasingly recognising the value of AI in boosting productivity and efficiency in newsroom operations. He remarked that traditional journalism demands significant time, whereas AI allows quicker information retrieval, albeit with a need for human verification and fact-checking. Cheah added that Huawei is expanding its technologies and innovations to facilitate quicker AI adoption across various industries, not just within the media sector.