New Delhi: The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) on Thursday launched the AIME Academy — AI Academy for Media and Entertainment — as part of a major initiative to strengthen artificial intelligence-driven media education and capacity building in India.
The Academy was inaugurated at the IIMC campus in New Delhi by Information and Broadcasting Secretary Chanchal Kumar in the presence of IIMC Vice Chancellor Dr. Pragya Paliwal Gaur and Google DeepMind India Senior Director Dr. Manish Gupta.
The event also marked the successful completion of a 10-week hybrid AI Skills Training Programme that trained more than 110 newsroom professionals, media educators and students from over 100 newsrooms and media colleges across 23 cities and more than 10 Indian languages.
AIME Academy to Focus on AI in Media
According to IIMC, the AIME Academy has been designed as a national centre of excellence for AI in media and entertainment. The institution aims to strengthen future-ready media capabilities through a five-pillar framework that includes capacity building, research, innovation and incubation, responsible AI policy development, and strategic collaboration.
The Academy will work on developing India-specific AI training modules, supporting applied research on AI in journalism, documenting newsroom AI adoption practices, and promoting the responsible use of AI across the media ecosystem.
Officials said IIMC’s six centres located in New Delhi, Dhenkanal, Jammu, Aizawl, Amravati and Kottayam would help build language-specific AI capacity across the country. The Academy is also expected to bring Indian perspectives such as multilingual communication, public service broadcasting, rural audiences and democratic diversity into the global AI and media discourse.
Over 110 Professionals Complete AI Training Programme
During the graduation ceremony, participants from Doordarshan, Akashvani (All India Radio), Press Information Bureau (PIB), Publications Division and IIMC received certificates for successfully completing the AI Skills Training Programme.
The programme trained participants from both government institutions and private newsrooms in foundational AI literacy and hands-on use of Google AI tools, including NotebookLM, Gemini, AI Studio and Pinpoint.
The initiative was launched by IIMC in partnership with Google under the Google News Initiative AI Skills Programme, with training support from How India Lives.
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The 10-week hybrid programme included participants from print, digital, broadcast, regional and local newsrooms from both public and private sectors.
According to IIMC, the programme recorded several key achievements, including participation from over 110 professionals across 23 cities and more than 10 languages. More than 100 newsrooms, media colleges and public communication institutions were part of the initiative.
Participants received over 40 hours of AI training and one-on-one mentoring. The programme also led to the development of more than 170 AI-powered projects and published works, along with over 50 “vibe coding” applications built by participants. Outreach activities were conducted across all six IIMC centres nationwide.
AI Should Support, Not Replace, Editorial Responsibility: I&B Secretary
Addressing the gathering, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Chanchal Kumar said the initiative represented a major shift in how Indian media institutions are preparing for the future.
“Today’s occasion is not merely a certificate ceremony. It marks a larger transition in the way Indian media institutions are preparing themselves for the future,” he said.
He added that the central issue was no longer whether AI would influence media, but whether journalists, editors, media educators and public communication professionals would be able to shape AI “with confidence, responsibility and an India-centric perspective.”
Kumar highlighted the importance of AI readiness in public service media institutions such as Doordarshan, Akashvani, PIB and Publications Division because of their responsibility to communicate across languages and geographies.
He stressed that AI should function as a support tool rather than a replacement for journalism.
“AI may be used as an assistant, but not as a substitute for editorial responsibility. It may improve speed, but not at the cost of accuracy. It may support creativity, but not at the cost of authenticity. The role of human judgement will become even more important in the AI age,” he said.
The Secretary also said the government’s approach to AI remained “positive, enabling and responsible,” aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Make AI in India” and “Make AI Work for India.”
