KUALA KUBU BAHARU – The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) is working with tech giant Meta to create an artificial intelligence (AI) powered chatbox on WhatsApp to curb the prevalence of unverified news.
Following a meeting with Meta yesterday, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the feature is near completion and hopes it could be implemented by this month.
“I believe the chatbox can almost be used. There are just a few technical issues that MCMC needs to discuss with Meta,” he told reporters at Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara Peretak here today.
“Considering (the feature) is under discussion, which requires specific meetings, it might cause a delay. But I do not expect it to take too long.”
Fahmi said anyone with access to the chatbox’s number – which is yet to be disclosed – can interact with it by forwarding articles for it to verify.
He also set a goal for the feature to be accessible using the main languages in Malaysia and through document uploads as well.
“Currently, (the chatbox) is still text-based and cannot verify documents, videos, or images. I hope we can have that kind of ability not too long into the future.
“I hope that people who receive WhatsApp (messages containing data) that cannot be verified will forward them to the chatbox and get their confirmations there.”
Fahmi said he would collaborate with Jomchat, a group consisting of several teams from Bernama and non-government organisations, to verify the facts of any news.
“They are of a high standard, so we will utilise this fact-checking team and their reports to answer (any queries).”
Earlier, Fahmi witnessed the soft launch of the Network and Infrastructure Sharing Framework, which aims to boost the network sharing of local mobile network operators (MNOs).
The partnership between CelcomDigi, Maxis, U Mobile, Telekom Malaysia, and YTL Communications, provides comprehensive coverage and commercial service options for users.
Fahmi said such an initiative may be the world’s first, where all the main MNOs cooperate to create a shared network.
The MNOs will test the framework’s implementation model on live networks in five locations. – May 9, 2024