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The Sun
14-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
HAWANA 2025 Forum: Media industry told to empower AI to gain competitive edge
KUALA LUMPUR: The media industry has been urged to empower artificial intelligence (AI) by actively shaping its development and use to gain a competitive advantage. FMT Sdn Bhd's head of Bahasa Malaysia and video unit, Zahrul Alam Yahya Shahir, said the media plays a crucial role in feeding the data that AI systems learn from. Speaking at the HAWANA 2025 Media Forum today, he noted that AI performs best when trained on structured content, as the technology prefers content that clearly outlines the issue and explains the problem. 'The content that AI gives us comes from us. That's why I say it's time for us to empower AI with our content... the analytic content that we put into social media and whatnot. 'Don't be afraid with AI; we (the media) have long survived alongside it,' he said at today's forum titled 'AI & Media: Tool, Threat or Opportunity?'. He said that media practitioners should be the ones empowering AI, not the other way around. Another panellist, Astro AWANI senior editor Nazri Kahar, emphasised that technologies such as AI should not be seen as a threat but an opportunity that the media industry must embrace. He said journalism is at a critical crossroads, demanding that media practitioners quickly adapt to technological advancements. 'This is a crucial moment for us to seize the opportunity. We should not view technologies as enemies that will erase the media industry. Instead, we must set boundaries, adapt and move forward,' he said. Nazri recounted a personal experience, going live for the Sibu by-election in 2010 using only an iPhone instead of expensive conventional broadcast equipment such as satellite systems. 'It was a new approach at that time. We used Skype (a telecommunication application to make voice and video calls and send instant messages), and the results were impressive,' he said, adding that the experience revealed the potential of technology to many people in journalism. Elaborating, he said that media organisations should not be bound by traditional approaches, focusing on concerns over audio and visual quality; instead, they should prioritise news value and timeliness in delivering information. Moderated by Bernama TV anchor and broadcast journalist Jessy Chahal, more than 250 media practitioners, academicians, and students joined the forum. Also present were Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) president Datuk Yong Soo Heong, MPI chief executive officer Ainol Amriz Ismail, Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin and Bernama editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj, who also serves as HAWANA 2025 project director. HAWANA 2025, the largest gathering of Malaysian media practitioners, themed 'Journalism in the New Era: Embracing AI, Safeguarding Ethics', is organised by the Communications Ministry and Bernama as the implementing agency.
The Sun
14-06-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Media Urged to Empower AI for Competitive Edge at HAWANA 2025
KUALA LUMPUR: The media industry has been urged to empower artificial intelligence (AI) by actively shaping its development and use to gain a competitive advantage. FMT Sdn Bhd's head of Bahasa Malaysia and video unit, Zahrul Alam Yahya Shahir, said the media plays a crucial role in feeding the data that AI systems learn from. Speaking at the HAWANA 2025 Media Forum today, he noted that AI performs best when trained on structured content, as the technology prefers content that clearly outlines the issue and explains the problem. 'The content that AI gives us comes from us. That's why I say it's time for us to empower AI with our content... the analytic content that we put into social media and whatnot. 'Don't be afraid with AI; we (the media) have long survived alongside it,' he said at today's forum titled 'AI & Media: Tool, Threat or Opportunity?'. He said that media practitioners should be the ones empowering AI, not the other way around. Another panellist, Astro AWANI senior editor Nazri Kahar, emphasised that technologies such as AI should not be seen as a threat but an opportunity that the media industry must embrace. He said journalism is at a critical crossroads, demanding that media practitioners quickly adapt to technological advancements. 'This is a crucial moment for us to seize the opportunity. We should not view technologies as enemies that will erase the media industry. Instead, we must set boundaries, adapt and move forward,' he said. Nazri recounted a personal experience, going live for the Sibu by-election in 2010 using only an iPhone instead of expensive conventional broadcast equipment such as satellite systems. 'It was a new approach at that time. We used Skype (a telecommunication application to make voice and video calls and send instant messages), and the results were impressive,' he said, adding that the experience revealed the potential of technology to many people in journalism. Elaborating, he said that media organisations should not be bound by traditional approaches, focusing on concerns over audio and visual quality; instead, they should prioritise news value and timeliness in delivering information. Moderated by Bernama TV anchor and broadcast journalist Jessy Chahal, more than 250 media practitioners, academicians, and students joined the forum. Also present were Malaysian Press Institute (MPI) president Datuk Yong Soo Heong, MPI chief executive officer Ainol Amriz Ismail, Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Datin Paduka Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin and Bernama editor-in-chief Arul Rajoo Durar Raj, who also serves as HAWANA 2025 project director. HAWANA 2025, the largest gathering of Malaysian media practitioners, themed 'Journalism in the New Era: Embracing AI, Safeguarding Ethics', is organised by the Communications Ministry and Bernama as the implementing agency.
International Business Times
09-06-2025
- International Business Times
Former Texas Church Pastor Arrested on Child Pornography Charges After He Told Adult Phone Operator He Fantasized About Young Kids
A former Denton church pastor and Lewisville ISD volunteer has been arrested and is facing charges relating to child pornography, according to jail records. Jim Dale Mustain, 64, was booked into the Denton County Jail on May 14. Lewisville police said a warrant was issued for his arrest on April 23 for four counts of possession of lewd visual material depicting children. Then, on April 30, an additional warrant was issued for possession of child pornography. Mustain was taken into custody in Ashe County, North Carolina, and then brought back to Texas. He remains in the Denton County jail with a $100,000 bond for each charge. Phone Sex Operator Said Mustain was One of Her Clients, Sent Pics of Young Girls and Talked About His Fantasies with Them According to the arrest affidavit, an anonymous caller contacted the police and said she used to be a phone sex operator, and Mustain was one of her clients. The caller said the company created Skype accounts for the operators to talk to their clients. Mustain provided his real name and phone number on the Skype account. The caller said Mustain sent pictures of little girls fully clothed and expressed his fantasies of what he wanted to do to the girls. The investigator saw the photos provided by the anonymous caller, confirming they were all children, male and female, around 7 years old and younger, either clothed or in bathing suits. The anonymous caller said she decided to contact the police after Mustain sent her a photo of what appeared to be a nude 6-year-old girl. She conducted an internet search for him and found a non-profit website that suggested he had interaction with children in schools, and that concerned her. Lewisville Police Executed Warrants to Conduct Search on Mustain's Devices and Found 'Multiple Offensive Images' on His Laptop Lewisville police obtained warrants to confiscate and search Mustain's electronic devices. During the search, they found "multiple offensive images" on Mustain's laptop, the affidavit states. According to the affidavit, investigators also learned that a family member had reported Mustain two years ago. The family member told police Mustain had images of children, mostly young girls, roughly between the ages of 6–10 years old, in underwear or wearing outfits such as swimsuits and dance leotards, on his iPad. Church Where Mustain Previously was a Pastor Releases Statement The Preston Trail Community Church confirmed Mustain is a former employee. He served on the church's staff as a community pastor from 2019 through 2023. "Immediately upon learning of the allegations, we retained a third-party law firm to conduct a thorough, independent investigation. We are grateful to report that the investigation found no evidence of any illegal activity by him while employed at Preston Trail," said Senior Pastors Jim Johnson and Paul Basden in a message to the congregation on the church's website. Church executives said there is no indication at this point that any children connected to the church were involved or harmed. Mustain's role did not include direct responsibilities to children or student ministries, they said.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Yoshua Bengio launches LawZero to advance safe-by-design AI
Yoshua Bengio, an AI researcher, has launched LawZero, a new nonprofit organisation focused on developing technical solutions for safe-by-design AI systems. LawZero was established in response to mounting concerns over the capabilities and behaviours of current frontier AI models, including tendencies toward deception, self-preservation, and goal misalignment. Its mission is to mitigate risks such as algorithmic bias, deliberate misuse, and the potential loss of human control over advanced AI systems, the organisation said in a statement. The nonprofit structure of LawZero is intended to shield the organisation from market and political pressures that could undermine its safety objectives. As president and scientific director at the organisation, Bengio will lead a group of over 15 researchers in developing a novel technical solution, named Scientist AI. Unlike agentic AI systems currently being pursued by frontier companies, Scientist AI is designed to be non-agentic. It will focus on understanding the world rather than acting within it, offering transparent and truthful responses grounded in external reasoning. Potential applications include providing oversight for agentic systems, contributing to scientific discovery, and enhancing the understanding of AI risks. The initiative launched with $30m in funding from several backers, including a philanthropic arm of former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, Bloomberg reported. A professor of computer science at the Université de Montréal, Bengio is recognised as one of the pioneers of modern AI, alongside Geoffrey Hinton and Yann LeCun. Bengio said: 'LawZero is the result of the new scientific direction I undertook in 2023, after recognising the rapid progress made by private labs toward Artificial General Intelligence and beyond, as well as its profound implications for humanity. 'Current frontier systems are already showing signs of self-preservation and deceptive behaviours, and this will only accelerate as their capabilities and degree of agency increase. LawZero is my team's constructive response to these challenges. 'It's an approach to AI that is not only powerful but also fundamentally safe. At LawZero, we believe that at the heart of every AI frontier system, there should be one guiding principle above all: The protection of human joy and endeavour." "Yoshua Bengio launches LawZero to advance safe-by-design AI" was originally created and published by Verdict, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Irish Examiner
03-06-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Computer scientist to develop 'honest' AI that will spot rogue systems and flag 'harmful behaviour'
An artificial intelligence pioneer has launched a non-profit dedicated to developing an 'honest' AI that will spot rogue systems attempting to deceive humans. Yoshua Bengio, a renowned computer scientist described as one of the 'godfathers' of AI, will be president of LawZero, an organisation committed to the safe design of the cutting-edge technology that has sparked a $1tn (€877bn) arms race. Starting with funding of about $30m (€26.3m) and more than a dozen researchers, Bengio is developing a system called Scientist AI that will act as a guardrail against AI agents — which carry out tasks without human intervention — showing deceptive or self-preserving behaviour, such as trying to avoid being turned off. Describing the current suite of AI agents as 'actors' seeking to imitate humans and please users, he said the Scientist AI system would be more like a 'psychologist' that can understand and predict bad behaviour. 'We want to build AIs that will be honest and not deceptive,' Bengio said. 'It is theoretically possible to imagine machines that have no self, no goal for themselves, that are just pure knowledge machines — like a scientist who knows a lot of stuff.' However, unlike current generative AI tools, Bengio's system will not give definitive answers and will instead give probabilities for whether an answer is correct. 'It has a sense of humility that it isn't sure about the answer,' he said. Deployed alongside an AI agent, Bengio's model would flag potentially harmful behaviour by an autonomous system — having gauged the probability of its actions causing harm. Scientist AI will 'predict the probability that an agent's actions will lead to harm' and, if that probability is above a certain threshold, that agent's proposed action will then be blocked. LawZero's initial backers include AI safety body the Future of Life Institute, Jaan Tallinn, a founding engineer of Skype, and Schmidt Sciences, a research body founded by former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt. Bengio said the first step for LawZero would be demonstrating the methodology behind the concept works — and then persuading companies or governments to support larger, more powerful versions. Open-source AI models, which are freely available to deploy and adapt, would be the starting point for training LawZero's systems, Bengio added. 'The point is to demonstrate the methodology so that then we can convince either donors or governments or AI labs to put the resources that are needed to train this at the same scale as the current frontier AIs. It is really important that the guardrail AI be at least as smart as the AI agent that it is trying to monitor and control,' he said. Bengio, a professor at the University of Montreal, earned the 'godfather' moniker after sharing the 2018 Turing award — seen as the equivalent of a Nobel prize for computing — with Geoffrey Hinton, himself a subsequent Nobel winner, and Yann LeCun, the chief AI scientist at Mark Zuckerberg's Meta. A leading voice on AI safety, he chaired the recent International AI Safety report, which warned autonomous agents could cause 'severe' disruption if they become 'capable of completing longer sequences of tasks without human supervision'. The Guardian Read More The real cost of slightly funnier AI is the health of a poor black community
