Artificial intelligence is changing the journalism field, and the Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism is changing with it, as they introduce the AI Journalism Diploma. This new program, which is set to launch in April 2026, is pioneering integrating AI and journalism, and will offer its cohort the tools to navigate AI within the changing media playing field.

Hussein Amin, professor of journalism and mass communications and director of the Kamal Adham Center, emphasized the significance of developing a diploma with an AI focus at AUC. “We are a center of excellence,” he affirmed. “We are always looking to include new avenues for professional development, and artificial intelligence is the cutting edge.”

“We are always looking to include new avenues for professional development, and artificial intelligence is the cutting edge.”

The program’s first cohort will run for six months, with five courses delivered to participants over five-week increments. There will be two synchronous classes per week, with additional resources and assessments.

Creating the Next Generation of Media Professionals

The diploma seeks to assess AI utilization across a range of areas that could be beneficial for journalists. Students will learn how to use AI to maximize efficiency and organizational clarity. They will also become proficient in adopting AI solutions for audience engagement and innovating data procurement and production. The diploma also includes an AI ethics course, ensuring that AI media practitioners are equipped with the tools to avoid bias and prioritize transparency, accountability and public trust.

Amin hopes that participants in the AI Journalism Diploma program walk away with a fundamental understanding of the ways AI can be a tool for content creation, news automation and data management. “The media world is changing,” Amin confirmed. “We’re here to help students leverage this change and become changemakers themselves.”

"The media world is changing. We’re here to help students leverage this change and become changemakers themselves.”

An Entirely New Curriculum

The diploma’s curriculum will range from classes such as AI and Digital Platforms and AI Strategies for the Newsroom. “The diploma is a combination of practical and theoretical,” says Dina Saad ‘94, ‘96, associate director of professional development for the Kamal Adham Center. She has spent the past year helping to bring the program to life. “AI is being used across all fields. A specialized study for journalists will continue to highlight student excellence and bring the Kamal Adham Center to the Forefront.”

 “AI is being used across all fields. A specialized study for journalists will continue to highlight student excellence and bring the Kamal Adham Center to the Forefront.”

A market study and research was conducted over one year to design the curriculum alongside the Center for Learning and Teaching. Several international subject-matter experts were consulted to develop the program and create courses around different AI programs.

The diploma program is aimed at journalists and media professionals working across the Arab world. Participants will have to have bilingual proficiency in both Arabic and English, as English-language skills are required for working with some of the machine-learning models. Applications will open in November 2025, with 35 media professionals expected to be accepted into the first cohort.

“AI can help people if it’s being used in the right way,” Amin proclaimed. “We are developing an excellent curriculum to help journalists understand this. and shape the future media leaders.”