From “technocracy.news”
In the future, AI will write news stories and present them with deep fake AI news anchors. As AI improves, you will be unable to discern what is fake and real. Some experts are forecasting that as much as 80 percent of the news will be delivered this way by 2028. Layer on the AI bots that will comment on the AI-generated stories, and you will see reality fading out in your rearview mirror. ⁃ TN Editor
Journalists have branded plans for artificial intelligence news anchors ‘utterly terrifying’ – as an LA-based channel looks set to launch them next year.
Channel 1 is using the tech to create digital humans to provide updates about what is happening across the world.
The station wants to launch them on free ad-supported streaming TV – including apps such as Crackle, Tubi, or Pluto – as early as February.
But the news has horrified reporters across the US, who warned it could ‘have huge ramifications for an already depleted news industry.’
Ruby Media Group CEO Kristen Ruby shared on X: ‘If you believe in the concept of ‘fake news,’ you have seen nothing. At least your news is presented by humans. When AI news anchors replace human news anchors – the concept of fake news will have a totally different meaning.’
Alec Lazenby, a Canada’s BC Today reporter, also shared his concerns on X: ‘This is utterly utterly terrifying. While the development of an entirely AI-powered broadcast is beyond impressive, it could have huge ramifications for an already depleted news industry and accelerate the loss of high-quality reporters and anchors.’
DailyMail.com spoke with Channel 1 founder Adam Mosam, who assured his company will not exploit the controversial technology.
Mosam admitted that misuse of AI-generated news is inevitable, but Channel 1 aims to ‘get out in front of this and create a responsible use of the technology.’
But the public foresees a dystopian future where ‘fake news’ runs rampant because computer algorithms generate it.
Many online publications attempted this journey in the last year, and nearly all regretted the decision.
Mass media company Gannett owns several US publications, including the Louisville Courrier Journal, AZ Central, Florida Today and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which used an AI service called LedeAI to pump out local high school sports stories.
Gannet pulled the plug on its AI experiment in August after numerous article errors, and while the public may not be so fussed over local news about high schools, they fear such mistakes could happen on a global scale.
Sports Illustrated is another that tried and failed.
Last month, the legacy magazine came under fire for publishing AI-generated writing while using headshots of fake authors and creating bogus profiles.
And on Tuesday, Arena Group Holdings, which owns Sports Illustrated, fired CEO Ross Levinsohn over the allegations.
Mosam 1 told DailyMail.com that it plans to be transparent with viewers about what footage is original and what is AI-generated.
But, the founder’s words do not seem enough to ease the public’s mind.
American tech and social media commentator Lance Ulanoff echoed similar criticism in a post: ‘AI news anchors are exactly what you don’t need in your fact-based, news-starved life.’
The outrage is not just from the media industry – ordinary people are also unnerved by digital humans.
Director Lee Kirton said: ‘But the news anchors completely generated in AI does concern me. We are living in a world of misinformation, digital media literacy is important, the social media channels are already flooded with fake videos, misinformation and power will use it… don’t look up.’
Ireland-based Olga Klofac shared: ‘It’s already getting hard to trust anything online, and it’s only going to get harder.’