Academic experts at the 10th International Conference on AI in Media in Riyadh have called for a comprehensive restructuring of media education in Saudi Arabia, arguing that existing curricula are failing to keep pace with the rapid integration of artificial intelligence into media production and practice.
The conference, organised by the Saudi Association for Media and Communication and held on the sidelines of the Kingdom’s designation of 2026 as the Year of Artificial Intelligence, brought together academics and media specialists across six sessions examining AI’s impact on content production, big data analysis, automation, and audience personalisation.
Hassan Mansour, professor of digital media at King Saud University, said AI skills must be embedded into both curricula and teaching methods across media faculties, describing current programmes as limited in their treatment of AI literacy. Turki Al-Ayyar, head of the conference’s media committee, went further, calling for a full overhaul of educational outcomes rather than incremental updates, warning that academic stagnation — not AI itself — poses the greater threat to the sector. Nahar Hariri of Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University framed the shift as a structural transformation in the philosophy of media education, requiring a move toward flexible, competency-based models aligned with the digital job market.
Source: https://meatechwatch.com/2026/04/09/saudi-academics-call-for-ai-overhaul-of-media-curricula/
