The Five Pillars of AI Learning for Media

After its first year of AI trainings for Europe’s Public Service Media, EBU Academy School of AI shares its emerging principles.

Learning about AI is a huge challenge for Public Service Media (PSM) organizations.

As a topic that affects everyone, it is not just content producers and journalists that require training but all staff. And, it is not just about upskilling but also the development of critical thinking, as artificial intelligence must be handled with extreme care. Trust is central to PSM and AI brings with it risks to this.

This being said, at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – the world’s leading alliance of public service media – we are generally optimistic regarding AI and Public Service Media. The opportunities are broad and significant from bringing effiencies to admin tasks to inspiring creativity, and from organizing archives to helping newsrooms detect hoaxes.

In March 2024, the EBU Academy launched our School of AI, an evolving curriculm of courses and other learning activities aimed to increase AI literacy within our sector and to upskill those working in it.

The demand has been strong, with more than 70 EBU Member organizations sending participants in the first 9 months and as media educators, we have learned too.

Five key principles have shaped our approach to teaching about artificial intelligence:

1. Assess Needs – Addressing both soft and hard skills.
2. Demystify – Vital AI literacy cannot be overlooked.
3. Debate Ethics – Critical thinking is encouraged in all our activities. 
4. Try – The value of learning by doing (responsibly).
5. Be Adaptable and Agile – The pace of evolution is intense and learning programmes must keep up with this. 

As we continue into year two, we are observing a greater demand for learning about more specific AI topics and tools. A growing number of EBU Members are requesting tailored learning experiences that focus on their needs. In response, we are developing more customised training opportunities.

Al may be rapidly changing, but the need to learn about it is constant and essential.

Author: 

Justin Kings, Head of EBU Academy