The first session of ‘Information credibility and AI literacy training’ online course is set to begin tomorrow at Daffodil International University.
At the initiative of Google and organised by Prothom Alo, 80 students from the Department of Journalism, Media, and Communication at Daffodil International University (DIU) will directly take part in the training.
Participants will not have to pay any course fee, and those who successfully complete the course will receive a certificate after evaluation.
From 9:00am to 4:30pm, hands-on training will be conducted by Saiful Alam Chowdhury, Associate Professor at Dhaka University; Maliha Tabassum, Assistant Professor at Bangladesh University of Professionals; and AFM Khairul Bashar, Senior Manager of Prothom Alo’s Digital Business Division.
The 10-hour course, structured into five modules, will provide practical training on information gathering, verification, analysis, and reporting, along with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Participants will gain hands-on experience with tools such as NotebookLM, Gemini, Pinpoint, and Google Trends. The training is expected to help them become more skilled in tackling one of contemporary journalism’s biggest challenges—misinformation and disinformation.
Earlier, from 14 to 30 August, registration was open for participation in the training program. Nearly 5,000 applications were received online from all 64 districts of the country. Initially, the plan was to include 1,000 participants, but due to overwhelming interest, the number was increased to 2,000.
Among them, a total of 1,070 journalists and media professionals and 930 students will take part in both online and offline sessions. Students will join in-person sessions at six universities including the DIU.
The other universities are Bangladesh University of Professionals, North South University, University of Chittagong, University of Barishal, and Khulna University.
Many see this Google–Prothom Alo training initiative as an important step toward improving the quality of journalism and preparing a technology-driven new generation of journalists.
Given the undeniable role of AI in the future of journalism, organisers believe the training will be timely and effective, opening new horizons for students as well as journalism and media professionals.