Perak ruler cautions about AI’s impact on truth, stressing communicators must humanise technology and maintain empathy over innovation.
KUALA LUMPUR: Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah has warned that artificial intelligence presents new challenges to truth while transforming information creation and sharing.
Speaking at the Global Public Relations Conference and Festival Malaysia 2025, he emphasised communicators must humanise technology to ensure innovation never replaces empathy.
“We must remain ever-vigilant,” he said during his royal address at the conference’s official opening.
“In an age where misinformation spreads faster than understanding, we must face these challenges not with hostility, but with wisdom.”
The Sultan stressed the importance of nurturing human values that underpin effective communication in this digital era.
He noted Malaysia’s strength lies in its diversity, adding that words must connect rather than divide.
“As a monarch, I am ever mindful that words carry immense weight,” Sultan Nazrin stated.
“The civility of our national discourse reflects the civility of our nation itself.”
He emphasised communication that enlightens rather than inflames sustains institutional dignity and national unity.
Sultan Nazrin added that communicators in government, business, and media must safeguard truth, civility, and accuracy.
He cautioned that harsh or divisive speech erodes trust and cohesion, urging public communicators to choose words with wisdom and conscience.
The integrity of language forms the very foundation of public trust and national stability, he stressed.
As Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship for 2025 nears conclusion, Sultan Nazrin urged member states to prioritise cooperation over confrontation.
He encouraged regional communicators to bridge divides and translate policies into understanding.
Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil attended the opening alongside former Bernama chairman Datuk Seri Azman Ujang and Malaysian Press Institute president Datuk Yong Soo Heong.
The inaugural three-day conference organized by PRactitioners gathered over 500 communication leaders, media professionals, policymakers, and academics from Malaysia and abroad. – Bernama
