AI news hosts confuse truth and reality – here's why experts say it's a problem

A Middle Eastern media company is launching the first virtual news presenter powered by artificial intelligence (AI), which experts say shows how difficult it is becoming to distinguish between truth and reality. There is.

AI anchor “Feda” recently appeared Kuwait News Twitter account. This is one of the ever-increasing uses of AI that can confuse viewers.

“This is a serious and real threat,” former news anchor Niha Curtis told Lifewire in an email interview. “We have seen disinformation campaigns and viral deepfakes spread rapidly around the world. We have seen images of the Pope wearing a fashionable puffy jacket spread online, shocking millions of people. Remember deception? Now imagine if an AI news anchor was also used to manipulate and continue spreading false information to millions of people.”

AI news

Feda looks eerily real on the air. The blonde anchor displayed a snappy and professional demeanor in a video discussing recent news events.

Kuwait isn't the only country with AI-generated news presenters. In 2018, China's state-run news agency put on a suit and launched its own virtual newsreader.

If AI news presenters become more popular, deepfake videos could become even more sophisticated and widespread, with the potential to “influence politics, geopolitical relations, public opinion, and cause harm to individuals and society.” “The risk of disinformation could be even higher,” Curtis said. He currently serves as Vice President of Global Corporate Communications for virtual meetings company Jugo.

In an era of shrinking news budgets, AI news presenters who don't ask for raises may be better off, at least from a pay perspective.

“For many TV businesses, much of their technology costs have been spent and depreciated long ago,” Elixir Consulting partner Ilya Rybchin said in an email. “Labor costs are one of the main line items on the income statement (especially for local news). Reducing staff and replacing them with AI will improve the bottom line for companies that are already struggling to stay afloat. ”

And, Curtis said, AI presenters will allow news to be delivered faster and perhaps more accurately.

“AI can be trained to detect bias and scrutinize information to provide context,” Curtis added. “AI can also be programmed to express itself in a ‘neutral’ tone.”

Breaking news, whether read by humans or machines, is not journalism, Subramaniam Vincent, director of the Journalism and Media Ethics Program at Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, said in an email. He said what matters is who writes the breaking news and how the news is collected, verified and composed.

“Kuwaiti viewers are probably already treating this as a top-down exploration decision at a technical level, imposed by the media elite in agreement with the ruling regime,” he added. “Or they'll take it as something remarkable and new. Once that novelty wears off in a few weeks or months, they're back to square one.”

Future of AI News

Hollywood is rushing to use AI to augment human actors. Will all news announcers be eventually replaced by AI?

There are widespread concerns that AI will displace human workers. A recent report from Goldman Sachs states that the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs worldwide could be replaced by AI.

As AI technology improves, Curtis said it will make newsrooms and media in general more efficient and accurate. However, AI-generated news and AI news presenters must be clearly labeled to the audience.

“Ethical considerations and safeguards need to be put in place to prevent bias, inaccuracy and manipulation,” Curtis added. “Careful oversight and transparency will be key to trusting this technology going forward.”

Rivchin predicted that AI-driven talent will soon be providing live sports coverage. However, in the long term, he said, AI “people” will disappear and be replaced by mere audio content.

“The growth of podcasts shows that consumers can consume vast amounts of content through audio alone,” he added. “I think many talking heads just have an audio track playing in the background, replaced by charts, data, and other visuals. The need to look people in the eyes when exchanging information is… , which has declined over time.”