Nigeria, July 2 -- From the moment fire was discovered, to the invention of the wheel, and much later the printing press, the industrial engine, and now artificial intelligence (AI), every technological advancement has had two things in common: promise and panic. And right now, we are in the thick of the panic phase. All around the world, from classrooms to boardrooms, newsrooms to factory floors, there is a growing unease about AI.

As a journalist, I am witnessing this fear play out firsthand. Many colleagues are apprehensive that AI will take their jobs, that machines will write the news, conduct interviews, fact-check, and edit content faster and more efficiently than any human ever could. But in the noise of these anxieties, we risk ...