Fahmi highlighted how AI was already being used to counter AI-driven threats in cybersecurity, citing organisations like BlackBerry that leveraged AI to enhance digital security.

“There’s an opportunity to look at what AI can do for your news organisations to fight the scourge of misinformation,” Bernama quoted him as saying in his welcome speech at a dinner held during the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) 54th executive board meeting here today.

Sharing Malaysia’s efforts to combat misinformation, Fahmi said the government recently introduced a fact-checking chatbot to verify fake news and information on WhatsApp.

He said the chatbot, named AI Fact-Check Assistant (Aifa), was created following a survey which found that many Malaysians relied on WhatsApp for news.

“We’ve decided that we will fight misinformation directly on WhatsApp. People can engage with the chatbot and ask it questions,” he said.

He also touched on the challenges faced by media organisations such as the shift to social media as a news source, which had significantly impacted traditional media advertising.

Fahmi witnessed the exchange of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) between Bernama and two news agencies – Indonesia’s Antara and Japan’s Kyodo News.

The MoUs were aimed at renewing existing cooperation between Bernama and the two news agencies, as well as improving content.

Malaysia, through Bernama, is hosting the 54th OANA executive board meeting over four days, from yesterday.

OANA was formed in 1961 as an initiative under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) to promote direct and free exchange of news among news agencies in the Asia-Pacific, a region inhabited by more than one-half of the world’s population.

OANA, which now covers two-thirds of the world’s population, has 43 members from 35 countries across Asia and Oceania.