Dr Mohamed Abdulzaher
Media Consultant at UAE Government Communication Office
The era of “Hyper-Globalization” or “Globalization 3.0” emerged in the end of 1980s, a period that saw the fall of the Berlin Wall and the emergence of economies such as India and China, the invention of the internet and modern communications. All of that made a revolution in the media industry, with large numbers of industrial satellites and satellite channels, the emergence of citizen journalism, and the social media revolution that we live in now.
The growth of the media industry has been closely linked to the era of “Globalization 3.0”, where transcontinental cultures and big companies are leading countries and international sectors and have more manpower than many other countries around the world, and also enjoy the easy movement of capitals and individuals between countries without any restrictions and freedom of investment.
Now under the Fourth Industrial Revolution there is a new era of globalization where the global economy is now morphing into the era of “Globalization 4.0”.
Globalization 4.0 is fueled by the swift universal spread of digital technologies. Upon us is a time where the nature of exchange between countries and organisations will become fundamentally different, relying on digital connectivity and the related flow of ideas and services. Klaus Schwab, founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum labels this as the core of Globalization 4.0.
Moreover, the challenges associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) are coinciding with the rapid emergence of ecological constraints, the advent of an increasingly multipolar international order, and rising inequality. These integrated developments are ushering in a new era of globalization. Whether it will improve the human condition will depend on whether corporate, local, national, and international governance can adapt in time. Meanwhile, a new framework for global public-private cooperation has been taking shape. Public-private cooperation is about harnessing the private sector and open markets to drive economic growth for public good keeping environmental sustainability and social inclusiveness in mind. But to determine the public good, we first must identify the root causes of inequality, according to Schwab.
The changes that are underway today are not isolated to a particular country, industry, or issue. They are universal, and thus require a global response. Failing to adopt a new cooperative approach would be a tragedy for humankind. To draft a blueprint for shared global-governance architecture, we must avoid getting mired in the current moment of crisis management.
Globalization 4.0 will have impacts on AI journalism, and will become a major driver of what we might call “Globalization Journalism 4.0” as it is an advanced stage of AI journalism.
This phase will lead to the search for a more human oriented media, requiring the AI Journalism to have more frameworks, theories, and tools that are concerned with public interest overshadowing material benefit, and help in undermining the movement of “robots” into penetrating the privacy, or harnessing technology to harm humanity.
Globalization Journalism 4.0 is a key partner in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The media has a major role to play in strengthening governments’ role in their efforts to eradicate poverty, bridge the gender gap, promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, reduce unemployment, and reduce inequality within countries. This is in addition to strengthening international partnerships to achieve sustainable development.
One of the lessons of earlier eras of “Globalization” is that any negative effects continue to affect humanity for years, so all global efforts must be made to get greater benefits of the new era of Globalization 4.0, and work to develop AI Journalism and the media industry in general, to serve humanity in a greater way.
According to the IMF report, globalization brings a fundamental benefit, it stimulates the spread of knowledge and technology, helping to spread the potential for growth across countries. But mutual association alone is not enough. Scientific and engineering knowledge is often required to absorb foreign knowledge and develop the capacity to build on it. Investment in education, human capital and local research and development activities is therefore essential for building the capacity to absorb and use foreign knowledge efficiently. This also requires an appropriate degree of protection and respect for intellectual property rights, both domestically and internationally, in order to have the ability to pay the costs of innovators’ innovations with the guarantee that new knowledge will support growth worldwide.