UNESCO Trains Iraqi Trainers on Ethics of Artificial Intelligence

UNESCO Iraq Office completed a series of specialized training course for a National Team of Trainers. The course started in Erbil and continued for three days in Baghdad, from July 4 to 6, 2024. The aim was to prepare trainers and empower them with the skills to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to monitor violations and abuses against journalists and influencers in the virtual and digital space.

During the course, trainees received instructions on monitoring, documentation, and reporting mechanisms, based on the "AI Journalism Teachers' Guide 2024" recently published by UNESCO in Paris. Iraq is the third country in the world to train its journalists on these modern technologies.

The course included training on leading daily smart applications through the "Digital Reporting Platform for Iraqi Female Journalists," which expanded with funding from the Dutch Embassy to include monitoring freedom of expression indicators. This initiative was supported by the Belgian company "AI Horizon Touch."

Equipped with these AI competencies, the trainees are be able to integrate the real and digital worlds to monitor, document, and report violations via the UNESCO platform. UNESCO is awaiting the completion of linking the digital platform with advanced AI algorithms, which will enable it to process reports and convert them into informational data that feeds into the periodic, thematic, and emergency reports of the United Nations related to freedom of expression, journalist safety, and media development in Iraq.