Dr Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan
President: The Center for Knowledge and Public Policy
Regional Expert: China, CPEC, BRI & World Affairs
E-mail: mehmoodulhassankhan7@gmail.com
The “Media in the Intelligent Age: From Consensus to Action” has become one of the hot topics of today’s communication world highlighting a “paradigm” shift.
Analytically, in the past, conventional media mainly focused on building a consensus through creating shared understanding or public agreement among large audiences. Routinely, the gatekeeping power of editors, the ritual of the evening news, and the authority of the printing press, journalism geared society what to think about and, implicitly, how to feel about it. It was a broadcast model.
In the intelligent age because of artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and real-time algorithms the global media has evolved from simply informing the public to directly driving action. It has started 5th generation hybrid war in which the dawn of social media and numerous apps are playing havoc. Fake news, false narratives and fabricated contents are easily formed with the help of AI creating news standards of beliefs, human responses and countermeasures.
Now, we have entered into the Intelligent Age defined not by the mere digitization of information, but by the proliferation of artificial intelligence, algorithmic curation, and generative content. In this new landscape, the old consensus is crumbling and decomposing.
Definitely, generative AI capable of producing lengthy articles in seconds, virtual anchors taking the anchor desk, and algorithms accurately capturing users’ emotions, the global media ecosystem is being reshaped at an unprecedented pace. However, it urgently needs a balanced approach safeguarding all of us and our vested interests.
So, we have reached a new media ecosystem of human-machine collaboration with artificial intelligence playing an increasingly important role in driving a new round of productivity transformation in the media.
Apparently, news reporting methods are undergoing profound changes in the Intelligent Age, with AI-assisted editing, algorithm-driven recommendations and personalized distribution, and automated content generation seen as the three key areas where AI empowers media content production.
The dawn of AI and social media have provoked barrier-free cross-language and cross-cultural communication, preservation of endangered languages and local cultures, and the digitization of cultural heritage with intelligent storytelling rank as the top three most anticipated aspects. Hence, everyone with a smartphone is a publisher; everyone with a prompt is a creator. Consequently, the monolithic consensus that once held communities together has fractured into a million micro-realities.
Nevertheless, information authenticity, the potential for AI to accelerate the decline of human innovation capabilities, and the misuse of personal data rank as the top three concerns of today’s media.
Additionally, the Intelligent Age represents a profound transformation, surpassing the information age by embedding intelligence into every facet of human activity through AI, quantum computing, and data-driven systems.
Obviously, when intelligent media focuses entirely on individual action and personalized feeds, the shared consensus or common ground in society can erode, leading to echo chambers which have become hallmark of our modern world producing more divisions than developments, more fractions than friendships and more faulty lines instead of fraternity orientations around the globe.
Comparative studies reveal that the age of filters or watch dogs doctrine is over and we have already landed in the new planet of AI which swiftly analyzes user behavior to deliver highly personalized content. Hence, it is a new reality which has to be dealt with carefully and computability through new and effective safeguards, systems, symmetries and last but not least, consensus to actions.
Ironically, companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and X have all trained their AI models (LLMs) on journalistic content without compensation, transparency and very little accountability creating further confusions, contraindications and complications for others.
If the media continues to chase the ghost of a universal consensus, it will become irrelevant. In the Intelligent Age, the goal is not to get everyone to agree on the same set of facts that is increasingly impossible but to galvanize distinct groups toward constructive action.
Definitely, China is putting forward concrete proposals of AI driven media, aiming to balance development with security and to promote the common well-being of humanity guided by one core principle: AI should benefit all humanity. This reflects the vision of a shared future for humanity, not a mindset of rivalry.
Interestingly, UNESCO has published the Beijing Consensus on Artificial Intelligence and Education, the first document to provide guidance and recommendations on how to make the most of AI technologies in support of the Education 2030 Agenda which may be replicated in the field of media for befitting propositions.
The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) has been formally inaugurated. The new international body will foster a global consensus on both development and security. President Xi has announced 5,000 technical places for AI capacity building, and it’s also realization that AI is so important for all member states to further strengthen our drive of consensus to actions.
At the opening ceremony of the 2026 WAIC and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward a comprehensive suite of proposals aimed at advancing a more inclusive and coordinated global AI governance framework.
From strengthening AI capacity building in developing countries to initiating the establishment of the World AI Cooperation Organization, Xi proposals have been hailed as a highly practical pathway toward ensuring AI benefits all humanity.
China’s proposals inject fresh momentum into global efforts to build a fairer, more inclusive AI governance framework. President Xi emphasized helping Global South countries strengthen capacity building, and China has consistently translated that vision into action
China Media Groups are also launching many artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives aiming at accelerating the digital and intelligent transformation of its content production and distribution, joining forces with China’s three major telecom operators and leading technology companies.
Subsequently, the AI ecosystem initiative brings together China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, Huawei, Alibaba Cloud, and Inspur Group. Cooperation will focus on computing infrastructure, network transmission and industrial coordination to support the deployment of AI across media production and delivery.
The writer suggests that the media must further develop elements of objectivity and clarity in its presentation through building platforms of communities and enterprises for the wellbeing of the common people.
The writer submits that the media must act as a filter for agency through it must close the loop between knowing and doing.
The writer recommends that all media groups must invest in training editorial teams on AI tools instead of resisting them and use data as the foundation for analysis and editorial planning through maintaining transparency with audiences about when and how AI tools are being used.
The writer proposes that balance technology with human creativity in content production and filter oriented gatekeeping should be jointly promoted and pursued ensuring media organization from the evolving media landscape.
The writer points out that efforts should be made to promote the standardized application and innovative development of intelligent agents, drive AI empowerment in fields such as science, manufacturing, healthcare, education, agriculture, and governance, and leverage AI to boost economic development, improve social governance, and enhance public well-being, according to the document.
Last but not least, strengthening international cooperation among media organizations can help jointly address the challenges brought by the AI era and provide direction for building a more resilient global media ecosystem.
In summary, “Media in the Intelligent Age: From Consensus to Action” is a wake-up for all of us. China’s media sector is undergoing a structural transition from technology-driven empowerment to value-oriented reconstruction gearing to meet the emerging risks and threats through joint efforts and consensus.
The media in the Intelligent Age must act as a lighthouse, not a foghorn. It must illuminate the path forward, not just warn of the rocks. It must use the intelligence of the age to foster agency, critical thinking, and resilience, rather than dependency, distraction and destruction of universal belief systems, eroding societies and promoting further segmentations around the globe.
The era of the passive consensus is over. We are now a society of new actors, agencies fragmented but connected, overwhelmed but capable. The media’s new role is to turn the chaos of the intelligent age into a coherent force for good, which is the core philosophy of the Chinese President’s Global AI Governance Initiative.
We have spent a century telling people what to think. Now, we must help them understand how to act. The future of media is not about getting everyone to agree; it is about ensuring that when we disagree, we still have the tools and the will to move forward together.
Nevertheless, we must distinguish between mobilization and manipulation. Mobilization empowers individuals to act on their own informed beliefs. Manipulation uses algorithmic precision to trigger outrage and division for profit or power. Thus, Media in the Intelligent Age: From Consensus to Action is the way forward in which the role of China is paramount.
