Artificial Intelligence and Digitalization: Don'T Go Too Fast! The Challenge of Training Communicators In Ecuador

In Ecuador, the training of communicators/journalists dates back a long time (1940), although the university offer is wide and diverse, the profession has not been able to overcome the multi-occupation, the lack of independence and the deprofessionalization that affects the sector, due to factors such as the accelerated technological implementation and the loss of value of the university as the only training entity. This is a qualitative study that gathers the experience and opinions of six of the main academic directors of com-munication careers linked to the public, co-financed and private sectors of Ecuador, on the training process of communicators and the response given to the implementation of digital culture, specifically Artificial Intelligence in higher education. The accelerated advance of digitalization has produced a gap in the curricula, which are faced with university bureaucracy and the ab-sence of a degree requirement for professional practice, identified as a na-tional vacuum. The degree of communicator and its variants is not so attrac-tive for the working world, enrollment rates are low, those consulted agree that the professional opportunities are diverse, but depend on factors such as the market, Internet and others.