Changsha City, Hunan Province-China – In a bold call to action, Yan Bin, Senior Editor of Hunan Daily and winner of 12 China News Awards in seven years, has urged Liberian journalists to fully embrace generative AI tools like ChatGPT or risk becoming irrelevant in a rapidly transforming media industry.
Speaking at a seminar on Media Communication Capacity Building for Liberia’s media professionals, Yan said generative AI has already surpassed most humans in its ability to produce high-quality text and is now essential for any newsroom seeking to stay competitive. The two-week seminar, held from August 1–14, 2025, is organized by the Hunan International Business Vocational College and sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China.
“ChatGPT’s ability to generate high-quality text content has already surpassed that of most humans,” Yan declared. “It can help newsrooms eliminate repetitive, everyday wording and bring new energy and expression into content creation.”
Yan outlined the transformative benefits of AI in journalism, noting that it can increase news production efficiency, broaden diversity in coverage, ensure reporting quality, accelerate the speed of dissemination, and personalize content for audiences.But he cautioned that the same technology comes with serious risks.
“Generative AI brings disruptive innovation to the media industry, It may produce fake news, lead to ethical misconduct, threaten personal privacy, and cause abuse of intelligent recommendation algorithms. If misused, it can bring profound negative impacts to the media ecosystem,” he warned
Addressing concerns about AI replacing journalists, Yan struck a balanced tone.
“The brightest quality of human editors lies in their sensitivity, insight, and judgment when facing complex matters—capabilities that ChatGPT cannot reach in the foreseeable future,” he explained. “But the vast majority of daily newsroom work is repetition and combination, not discovery and creation. Generative AI will certainly reduce the need for human editors and journalists in some areas, forcing them to transform and engage in more imaginative and creative work.”
He urged journalists to respond by returning to the core of journalism—being on the ground, conducting deeper interviews, and doing rigorous research and analysis. Yan also emphasized that despite AI’s power, storytelling remains the most vital skill in communication.
“The success or failure of an individual, a business, a nation, or a region depends on its storytelling ability,” he said. “Stories carry information, viewpoints, and—most importantly—emotion. Storytelling is humanity’s most vital cultural power.”
On the subject of attracting audiences in the digital age, Yan reminded participants that a powerful headline is often the gateway to impact.
“The title determines the opening rate of the article. A good title can immediately attract the user’s attention and influence the platform’s recommendation algorithm,” he explained. “If your title is not attractive, the content you have worked so hard to create will likely be lost. The simplest way is to think of yourself as a user every time you write a title.”
The Liberian journalists attending the training in Changsha are expected to return home with not just technical skills, but also a renewed mindset—one that embraces AI as a partner rather than a threat, and that places creativity, ethics, and storytelling at the heart of their work.
“The title determines the opening rate of the article. A good title can immediately attract the user’s attention and influence the platform’s recommendation algorithm,” he explained. “If your title is not attractive, the content you have worked so hard to create will likely be lost. The simplest way is to think of yourself as a user every time you write a title.”
The Liberian journalists attending the training in Changsha are expected to return home with not just technical skills, but also a renewed mindset—one that embraces AI as a partner rather than a threat, and that places creativity, ethics, and storytelling at the heart of their work.
