AI-driven journalism initiatives in the Middle East, often backed by philanthropic media development projects, are reshaping local newsrooms under the influence of global tech giants. These efforts, while marketed as support, risk deepening power asymmetries, fostering digital dependency, and reactivating colonial patterns of control through algorithmic systems and donor-driven agendas.

How did the conversation about using artificial intelligence in journalism become merely a "trend"? And can we say that much of the media discourse on AI’s potential remains broad and speculative rather than a tangible reality in newsrooms?

Recent advances in AI are mind-blowing. But good journalism requires certain skills which, for now at least, only humans can master