The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) has intensified efforts to combat artificial intelligence-driven misinformation, warning that emerging technologies are making false information more sophisticated and easier to spread across Africa.

Speaking at the inaugural CJID Ghana Media Summit, Executive Director Babatunde Akintunde said tools such as ChatGPT and Google's Gemini have fundamentally changed the information ecosystem.

"We can't talk about the information ecosystem today without talking about the AI era," he said.

Mr Akintunde noted that generative artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to produce misinformation at scale, posing serious risks to elections, governance and public trust.

In response, he said CJID has established its Digital Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Information Integrity Centre to strengthen journalists' capacity to investigate and verify digital content.

He disclosed that journalists have already undergone specialised training on the use of open-source intelligence and AI-powered investigative tools to identify manipulated content, track online activity and strengthen fact-checking.

"Our fellows will begin producing investigations from next week," he announced.

According to him, strengthening journalists' digital verification skills has become essential as misinformation campaigns become increasingly sophisticated.

He said the organisation remains committed to investing in research and newsroom innovation to help preserve information integrity across the region.