Bishkek, April 17, 2025. /Kabar/. The Second Central Asian Media Forum has begun its work in the capital of Kazakhstan. More than 700 leaders and representatives of the media from our region, as well as Qatar, China, Russia and other countries are participating in it. The main topic of discussions is media as a tool for strategic development in the era of global changes.
The information space should unite and bring countries and peoples closer together - this is the main leitmotif of the speakers who spoke in Astana. Global transformations taking place in the world have become an incentive to realize that the media should create, strengthen interstate cooperation in the spirit of good neighborliness, consolidate the information space and jointly counteract the false and aggressive rhetoric thrown in from the outside.
In this regard, the topic of using artificial intelligence technologies in journalism was touched upon. AI, of course, can create a text and draw an illustration, but the whole question is who uses the algorithms and for what purposes. They may end up in the hands of those who use them for harm. This was noted by Deputy Minister of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy of Kyrgyzstan Marat Tagaev.
"On the one hand, AI provides a wide range of opportunities - from process automation to analysis of large volumes of data. However, on the other hand, cases of abuse of these technologies are increasingly being recorded. One of them is deepfakes - falsified video and audio materials created using neural networks," Marat Tagaev said.
He noted that such technologies can be used for disinformation, manipulation of public opinion, cybercrime.
"In connection with the intensification of information attacks in the world, fakes and disinformation pose a threat to national and information security and social stability both in the Kyrgyz Republic and in the world as a whole," the deputy minister emphasized.
Director of Kabar News Agency Mederbek Shermetaliev noted in his speech that the unification of efforts of friendly countries in the media sphere is a kind of response to modern challenges and threats, attempts to rewrite history and distort meanings.
“The countries of Central Asia are creating a space for cooperation and development. As our leaders have repeatedly emphasized, the priority in the foreign policy of our states is to strengthen friendship and partnership with our closest neighbors. Strong interstate relations based on mutual trust and respect are the key to the prosperity of our region. And in order to develop harmoniously, supporting each other, we, of course, need to think about how to create a healthy and safe climate in the information field that unites us.
We all clearly understand that the integration processes between our countries, which are gaining strength, are developing in an evolutionary way. And our presidents realize that there is no point competing and vying with each other, we will bring much more benefit to our countries and peoples if we help each other, jointly implement infrastructure projects and develop the economies of our states in the framework of common interests. Interaction between the media can be built on the same principles. We need to launch joint projects so that viewers and readers can see the prospects that our countries can achieve - by building large hydro power stations together, laying transport corridors, developing industrial potential and developing mineral deposits. We must draw this image of the future," Mederbek Shermetaliev emphasized.
The forum in Astana will last 2 days. This time, the participants of the meeting will devote to searching for cooperation options that will strengthen interstate cooperation in the media, establish information exchange and create a platform for effective interaction. And the first joint step in this area could be the launch of Central Asian TV. This project is being discussed not only in the journalistic community, but is also supported at a high political level.