The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) has launched the AI Academy for Media and Entertainment (AIME), a new initiative aimed at strengthening artificial intelligence capabilities across India’s media, journalism and public communication sectors.
The academy was inaugurated at the IIMC campus in New Delhi by Information and Broadcasting Secretary Chanchal Kumar in the presence of IIMC Vice-Chancellor Pragya Paliwal Gaur and Google DeepMind India Senior Director Manish Gupta. The launch coincided with the graduation ceremony of a 10-week AI Skills Training Programme that trained more than 110 newsroom professionals, media educators and students from over 100 newsrooms and media institutions across 23 cities and more than 10 Indian languages.
Envisioned as a national centre of excellence for AI in media and entertainment, the academy will focus on five key areas — capacity building, research, innovation and incubation, responsible AI policy development, and strategic collaborations. According to IIMC, the initiative seeks to support AI adoption in journalism, develop India-specific training modules, document newsroom AI practices and promote responsible use of artificial intelligence across the media ecosystem.
With centres in New Delhi, Dhenkanal, Jammu, Aizawl, Amravati and Kottayam, the institute said it is positioned to support language-specific AI training and build capacity across diverse media markets.
Addressing the gathering, Chanchal Kumar said the media industry’s challenge is no longer whether AI will influence journalism but how media professionals can use the technology responsibly and effectively. “The real question before us is not whether AI will influence media; that process has already begun. The more important question is whether our journalists, editors, media educators and public communication professionals will shape AI with confidence, responsibility and an India-centric perspective,” he said.
Kumar emphasised that AI should complement rather than replace editorial functions. “AI may be used as an assistant, but not as a substitute for editorial responsibility. It may improve speed, but not at the cost of accuracy. It may support creativity, but not at the cost of authenticity. The role of human judgement will become even more important in the AI age,” he added.
The AI Skills Training Programme was conducted in partnership with Google News Initiative and supported by How India Lives. Participants came from print, digital and broadcast organisations as well as public communication institutions, including Doordarshan, Akashvani, Press Information Bureau and Publications Division.
According to IIMC, the programme delivered more than 40 hours of AI training and one-on-one mentoring, resulting in over 170 AI-enabled projects and more than 50 applications developed by participants.