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Each year on February 13, the world marks World Radio Day, a celebration of radio’s enduring role as a medium of information, education, and entertainment.
In 2026, the theme “Radio and Artificial Intelligence: Innovation that Empowers, Ethics that Inspire, Trust that Endures” offers profound opportunities for reflection on how radio and media broadly can harness AI responsibly to serve the public interest in an era of rapid technological change.
Radio in Kenya continues to be one of the most trusted and far-reaching media platforms, especially in rural and underserved communities where it remains a reliable source of news, culture, and dialogue. As AI tools reshape how content is produced, personalised, and verified, the question for radio practitioners and journalists at large is not whether to adopt AI, but how to do so ethically, transparently, and with public trust as the guiding principle.
AI’s potential in media is real and multifaceted. Tools powered by machine learning and natural language processing can assist in programme scheduling, audience analysis, automated transcription of interviews, translation across local languages, and even initial groundwork for fact-checking and verification.
These applications promise greater efficiency and wider reach. But as with any powerful tool, the benefits come with proportional risks. If not implemented with ethical guardrails, AI can exacerbate misinformation, erode trust, and inadvertently compromise journalistic integrity.
At its core, ethical AI adoption in radio and media is about human agency and responsibility. While technology can augment capacity, human judgment is essential to journalistic context, empathy, and critical thinking, which construes that editorial responsibility and must remain central.
In practical terms, this begins with ethical frameworks that anchor AI adoption to core journalistic principles. Across global media development work, including guidance from organisations like Internews, UNESCO, and international newsroom associations, certain themes consistently emerge. These themes emphasise transparency, accountability, human oversight, privacy protection, and a commitment to information integrity.
Transparency means that when AI is used to generate or assist in content, whether in generating news summaries or voice synthesis, audiences should know. Transparency builds trust by preventing deception, even where technology is employed to enhance accessibility or efficiency. Accountability and human oversight are equally invariable. Ethical AI approaches insist that a human decision-maker remains responsible for final content choices.
As the Media Guide on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Kenya outlines, principles such as respect for human autonomy and prevention of harm require that AI systems cannot substitute for editorial judgement, and that accountability must rest firmly with journalists and editors.
Privacy protection and data governance must be prioritised as media integrate AI tools that process audience data or public voice recordings. Discussions around AI should therefore extend beyond novelty features to grapple with serious questions: Where is the data stored? Who can access it? Does its use comply with fair journalistic use and data protection guidelines?
Importantly, ethical AI adoption must be accompanied by capacity building. Media practitioners, especially in resource-limited settings, require targeted training not only on how to use AI tools but on understanding their limitations, including risks of bias, algorithmic errors, and potential amplification of disinformation.
Mr. Mariita is a Media Development Practitioner
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By Abraham Mariita