GENEVA: AI is enhancing content creation, distribution and consumption as it generates scripts, movies, music, images, captions, animations and virtual reality content, while improving post-production workflows and analyzing user data. According to Creative Economy Outlook 2024 released by UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), AI is widely used in newsrooms, with 41% of news teams employing it to create illustrative art, 39% for social media content, and 38% for writing and generating articles. While digitalization and artificial intelligence expand opportunities for growth and efficiency, they also raise development concerns about the digital divide, job shifts, quality control, privacy and consumer protection, copyright, and market monopolization. Policymakers need to monitor technological developments and update policy and regulatory frameworks to seize development opportunities and mitigate risks. Stronger international cooperation is necessary to bolster technological development and regulatory design. The top five publishers in the United States hold about 80% of the book market, while six movie studios account for nearly 90% of box office ticket sales in recent years. In 2021, three companies dominated 59% of the global streaming music subscription market. The Creative Economy Outlook 2024 emphasizes the need for a level playing field to promote a diverse and vibrant creative economy, pointing to effective policies in some countries that have fostered thriving creative sectors by protecting intellectual property and ensuring competitive markets. Source: Emirates News Agency