Polish radio station replaces journalists with AI ‘presenters’

A Polish radio station has triggered controversy after dismissing its journalists and relaunching with AI-generated “presenters.”

Weeks after letting its journalists go, OFF Radio Krakow relaunched this week, with what it said was “the first experiment in Poland in which journalists ... are virtual characters created by AI.”

The station in the southern city of Krakow said its three avatars are designed to reach younger listeners by speaking about cultural, art, and social issues including the concerns of LGBTQ+ people.

“Is artificial intelligence more of an opportunity or a threat to media, radio, and journalism? We will seek answers to this question,” the station head, Marcin Pulit, wrote in a statement. On Tuesday the station broadcast an “interview” conducted by an AI-generated presenter with a voice pretending to be Wisława Szymborska, a Polish poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature who died in 2012.

The change got nationwide attention after Mateusz Demski, a journalist and film critic who until recently hosted a show on the station, published an open letter on Tuesday protesting “the replacement of employees with artificial intelligence.”

“It is a dangerous precedent that hits us all,” he wrote, and argued it could open the way “to a world in which experienced employees associated with the media sector for years and people employed in creative industries will be replaced by machines.” More than 15,000 people signed the petition by Wednesday morning, Mr. Demski said. He said the move was especially shocking because the broadcaster is a taxpayer-supported public station. Mr. Pulit insisted that no journalists were fired because of AI but because its listenership “was close to zero.”

Krzysztof Gawkowski, the Minister of Digital Affairs and a Deputy Prime Minister, weighed in on Tuesday, saying he had read Mr. Demski’s appeal and that legislation is needed to regulate AI.

Published - October 24, 2024 09:00 am IST