Denis Arapov, CEO of LIFE and SHOT, spoke at SPIEF 2026

The session "Media in the Era of AI in the Eurasian Space" was held at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.: how countries can survive in the face of information counteraction using AI technologies", dedicated to the impact of artificial intelligence on the media environment, information security and audience trust.

Denis Arapov, CEO of the joint editorial office of LIFE and SHOT, told how artificial intelligence technologies are already changing the work of modern editorial offices and why humans still play a key role in media production.

News Media Holding is actively implementing AI tools in editorial processes. The entire editorial staff of LIFE has been retrained and mastered working with neural networks, which has significantly improved the efficiency of content production.

"Now, in principle, the profession of media professionals has changed. Our entire editorial staff has been retrained as an AI operator and knows how to write promts. Thanks to this, we have increased the number of news 2.5 times," Denis Arapov said.

He stressed that today artificial intelligence is used for analytics, preparation of drafts of materials, image generation, navigation and distribution of content, as well as for personalization of materials for different audiences and platforms.

According to Arapov, neural networks are already demonstrating high efficiency in solving specific editorial tasks: "Headlines compiled by AI attract the attention of the audience more than those written by humans. And if we talk about editorial processes, it is impossible to make the editor-in-chief read a thousand news stories a day instead of a hundred, without AI."

At the same time, the media manager believes that neural networks remain solely a tool for supporting editorial work and are not able to replace a person in matters of meaning and responsibility.

"AI helps us understand audience sentiment, work with platform algorithms, and improve editorial efficiency. But AI doesn't add meaning—it's a human prerogative. The experience, emotions, and understanding of the context remain with people," he said.

According to the head of LIFE and SHOT, in the era of the spread of deepfakes and information manipulation, the importance of professional media is only increasing.

The issue of digital sovereignty was also raised at the session. According to Arapov, there is no way to shut out information: "Sovereignty in the age of AI is the ability to provide its citizens with computing data as smoothly as electricity. Not to buy it from those who can turn it off at any time for political reasons, but to produce it themselves. Those who do not have time to get into a rut today will find themselves in the position of technological colonies tomorrow."

Today, the global AI market looks less and less like a market and more and more like a pass system. The dominant part of the world's computing power is controlled by the five global hyperscale players, which is why initiatives to develop national AI infrastructure are of particular importance.: "We are closely following the draft law on AI regulation. It raises an important question: which way to move forward — to create our own solutions or to use open models of foreign developers."

The media manager suggested contrasting the world's artificial intelligent systems with regional ones using three levers: "The first lever is energy. About 30% of the world's giant facilities are not running due to a lack of electricity. The second lever is a resource lever. Export management of critical minerals in the semiconductor industry. And the third is the data lever. Data that we may not provide, but use. This is how we can create technological independence against a technological colony."

The panelists also discussed the risks associated with the development of artificial intelligence technologies. Ignatiy Pavlov, General Director of the Vedomosti business publication, noted that AI is already becoming an integral part of the media business, but responsibility for the published information should remain with the person.

The leader of the SOS Romania party, Diana Shoshoake, spoke about cases of using deepfakes in the political struggle and stated the risks of censorship and manipulation of public opinion through digital technologies.

Marina Tauber, a former member of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, drew attention to the problem of the spread of fakes and proposed to develop cooperation between friendly states in the field of their own technological solutions and artificial intelligence, for example, to create a Eurasian technological alliance to reduce the impact of other people's platforms and algorithms on human life.

The participants agreed that the development of AI opens up new opportunities for the media, but at the same time requires the development of mechanisms to protect audience trust, preserve editorial responsibility and strengthen the information sovereignty of states.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2026 is taking place from 3 to 6 June. The business program covers issues of interaction between entrepreneurs, the state and consumers, and also allows you to share experiences with representatives of business and government in other countries.