KUCHING: As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in society, human wisdom must ultimately prevail over technology, says Datuk Abdullah Saidol.
The Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Corporate Affairs, Information and UKAS) said technological intelligence alone was insufficient in navigating an increasingly complex digital environment.
“I’m not sure whether we’re going to have artificial wisdom or not, but then again, wisdom prevails over artificial intelligence,” he said when officiating at the International Communication and Media (i-COME’26) Conference at the Borneo Cultures Museum here today.
He said digital competence was no longer merely a technical skill but had become increasingly important to social cohesion and national survival.
“We have to work very hard to ensure every part of society has a reasonable amount of competence to understand and to shield ourselves from information and stories that we read every day, whether they are true or not.”
For a multiracial and multicultural country such as Malaysia, he said diversity remained a major strength but required responsible communication to safeguard harmony.
He cautioned that fabricated narratives targeting sensitive issues such as race and religion could be used to exploit divisions within society.
“This is not harmless free speech. It is weaponised by some people, and content designed to spark public unrest, breed ill feeling, cultivate disharmony and sow seeds of hatred among our communities.”
Abdullah said stronger digital literacy was therefore necessary to help citizens identify and reject malicious content before it undermined social cohesion.
He also highlighted the media’s role as guardians of harmony, saying practitioners should move away from clickbait content that profited from public anxiety and division.
Public truth and communal harmony, he added, should be treated as precious resources and protected through ethical journalism.
Abdullah said digital platforms should instead foster cross-cultural understanding and serve as bridges between communities rather than deepen existing fault lines.
Organised by Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) through its School of Multimedia Technology and Communication (SMMTC), the 10th edition of i-COME carries the theme “Navigating Global Communication through Digital Competence for a Sustainable Future.”
The conference brought together about 100 participants from academic and industry backgrounds, including international participants from Pakistan, Indonesia and China.
