The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, has cautioned journalists and media organisations against allowing technology to undermine the ethical values and professional standards that sustain public trust in journalism.

He said that although emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), offer significant opportunities for newsrooms, journalists must ensure that technology remains a tool for strengthening journalism rather than replacing the human judgment and ethical responsibility at its core.

Speaking at the GJA’s 77th anniversary symposium and lecture on Wednesday, August 19, Mr Dwumfour said technology had significantly changed how information is gathered, produced, distributed and consumed.

He noted that social media, mobile journalism, data journalism and AI were increasingly shaping newsroom practices and the relationship between journalists and their audiences.

According to him, AI can support journalists with tasks such as research, transcription, translation, data analysis and monitoring.

However, he warned that the technology also presents serious risks, including misinformation, fabricated content, deepfakes and synthetic audio and images.

“The GJA's position is clear. Technology must serve journalism. It must not destroy the values that make journalism worthy of public trust,” he said.

Mr Dwumfour said the GJA would continue to promote training and capacity-building in digital journalism, verification, fact-checking, data journalism and the responsible use of AI.

He stressed that despite rapid technological advancements, the human journalist remains central to the profession.

“Journalism still requires curiosity, judgment, courage and conscience,” he said.

He explained that journalists must be able to ask additional questions, verify documents, seek responses from all sides and identify inconsistencies, responsibilities he said technology could assist with but could not fully assume.

The GJA President also urged media organisations to look beyond the technical aspects of digital journalism and pay attention to the changing economics of the digital environment.

He said journalists and media organisations needed to understand how digital platforms operate, how audience behaviour was changing and what this meant for the financial sustainability of media organisations.

“If we do not understand the digital ecosystem, others will increasingly determine the future of our profession for us,” he cautioned.

Mr Dwumfour said the GJA would encourage media organisations to develop clear editorial policies on the use of AI.

Such policies, he said, should address transparency, verification, human oversight, the protection of confidential sources, copyright and intellectual property.

He urged journalists to embrace emerging technologies while maintaining the professional judgment and ethical standards that define credible journalism.

“The journalists of the future must understand emerging technologies whilst retaining the human judgment and ethical responsibility that machines cannot replace,” he added.