Workshop delves into AI-driven transformation in the ASEAN media sector
In the heart of Hong Kong, from July 14 to July 24, 2025, the ASEAN Media Capacity Building Workshop took place. This event, jointly organized by the Chinese Mission to ASEAN and China Daily, aimed to explore effective strategies for navigating the AI era and its implications for media development.
Zhong Zhen, managing director from Xiaohongshu's Greater Bay Area E-commerce Operating Center, stressed the importance of understanding audience preferences and creating content with a human touch to resonate emotionally with users. According to Zhong, this approach is the secret to Xiaohongshu's popularity.
Tutors from China Daily demonstrated various shooting devices, including pocket cameras, drones, and action cameras, and explained composition and framing techniques. They also highlighted the importance of leveraging AI's ability to detect spelling and grammatical errors.
Justin Clarence Lao Tembresa, CEO of Lannang Studios, emphasized the need for traditional media to enhance content quality to remain relevant in the digital age. He suggested that the combination of traditional media's strengths with new technologies, while maintaining content warmth, is key.
The workshop gathered over 20 senior media professionals from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Among them was Soo Wern Jun, a senior journalist from the Malay Mail newspaper of Kuala Lumpur, who expressed interest in bringing lessons learned about energy conservation and environmental responsibility back to Malaysia.
Journalists visited multiple sites in Hong Kong, including Cyberport and the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Participants also visited Shenzhen, including the Shenzhen Nanshan Energy Ecological Park.
AI significantly enhances reporting efficiency, but an overreliance on AI may lead to serious factual errors in journalism. Effective strategies emphasize balancing AI's strengths—such as error detection and data analytics—with human journalistic judgment and creativity, to avoid risks like factual errors and loss of storytelling authenticity.
The future of traditional media in ASEAN hinges on a coordinated digital transformation alongside AI adoption, facilitated by robust national strategies that integrate 5G as an infrastructural backbone. The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) highlights the transformative economic potential of 5G-AI convergence, forecasting up to US$130 billion economic contribution by 2030 in the Asia-Pacific, including ASEAN. However, uneven adoption across ASEAN countries presents risks of deepening digital divides. LKYSPP recommends ASEAN governments establish empowered coordination bodies, progressive spectrum policies, vibrant AI ecosystems through public-private collaboration, and continuous performance monitoring to drive effective transformation.
In summary, effective strategies for media transformation in ASEAN combine AI tools with human journalists’ creativity and fact-checking to ensure quality and trustworthiness. Audience preferences lean toward personalized, human-centric content that leverages AI insights without sacrificing storytelling authenticity. The future of traditional media involves embracing AI and 5G digital infrastructure, requiring coordinated national policies and ecosystem development to avoid regional disparities and enable sustainable growth. This integrated approach is essential for traditional media in ASEAN to evolve successfully in the AI era while meeting audience expectations and contributing to broader economic transformation.
*During the ASEAN Media Capacity Building Workshop, the importance of leveraging artificial-intelligence (AI) for error detection and data analytics was emphasized, but it's crucial to balance this with human journalistic judgment and creativity to maintain storytelling authenticity.* In the AI era, effective strategies for traditional media in ASEAN involve combining AI tools with human creativeness and fact-checking to ensure quality and trustworthiness, creating personalized, human-centric content that resonates emotionally with users.
