Channel director Jagi Mangat Panda called Lisa’s debut “a milestone in broadcasting and digital journalism.” Whether positive or negative, it seems everyone has something to say about Odisha TV’s artificial intelligence anchor.
Dressed in a yellow-brown sari, Lisa is tasked with presenting news on digital platforms, reading horoscopes and providing weather and sports information. Panda explains that virtual MCs are in charge of repetitive tasks, freeing up staff to focus on creativity and delivering better quality news.
Still, the emergence of Lisa and other recent AI anchors has sparked debate about the future of media in India, a phenomenon that can be seen in other Asian countries, from China to Southeast Asia.
AI is a powerful tool for reaching audiences in a country like India, where hundreds of languages coexist. Lisa is not the country’s first AI anchor, but Sana of the India Today group. In addition to presenting news in English, Hindi and Bangla, Sana also speaks 75 other languages.
India Today Vice President Kalli Purie describes Sana as “bright, radiant, ageless, tireless”. In Karnataka, Power TV also uses virtual host Soundarya.
The new wave of AI anchors is powered by machine learning algorithms that analyze data from news to videos . According to the INDIA government website, a virtual anchor “collects, monitors, and classifies what is said, who is saying it, and then transforms the data into usable information.”
Virtual hosts are cost-effective, allow channels to broadcast news in multiple languages, and process large amounts of data at extraordinary speeds, and don’t suffer from “celebrity disease” like humans, producers say.
Critics, on the other hand, say the technology threatens to undermine the credibility of the media. Robots also lack the observational skills and experience of journalists. A teacher in Delhi said she immediately switched channels when she saw a virtual anchor because of the monotonous voice and lifeless gestures.
Similar to other AI technologies, virtual MC applications raise concerns about employees losing their jobs, despite manufacturers reassuring them that they will never replace humans.
A Power TV spokesperson said the channel just wants to use the power of technology to try new and exciting things. In addition, the multilingual virtual hosts will help more people access the news.
Whatever the debate, AI in the newsroom is a trend that is unlikely to reverse. A survey published in May 2023 by the World Association of News Publishers found that 49% of global newsrooms are using AI tools like ChatGPT.
Mateen Ahmad, assistant professor at the AJK Centre for Mass Communication Studies (India), shared that any new technology causes initial confusion. For example, film producers feared that animation would replace films with actors, but that never happened.
Similar concerns plagued the publishing industry as the Internet took off. Many feared the Internet would be the death knell for books and newspapers, but the truth is that, in any creative job, humans are irreplaceable. Until AI becomes smarter than humans, humans will remain the key to innovation.
Ahmad predicts that AI will create more jobs in the media industry as it upgrades content.
(According to Nikkei)
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