According to Vanessa Gera’s report for the Associated Press (AP), OFF Radio Kraków, a Polish radio station, started a national debate in Poland by terminating its journalists and replacing them with AI-generated presenters.
This week, the station in the southern city of Krakow announced that it was conducting an unprecedented experiment in Poland, replacing human presenters with AI-powered counterparts. Emilia “Emi” Nowak, Jakub “Kuba” Zieliński, and 23-year-old Alex Szulc are the new AI-generated “hosts” at OFF Radio Kraków. The station has terminated the contracts of former journalists, and as of Tuesday, these AI-generated figures have assumed their responsibilities.
According to the radio station’s website, Emi Nowak is their pop culture expert, as indicated in her biography:
“She is an avid observer of the most recent developments in the fields of music, cinema, and fashion. She has a fondness for independent cinema.”
Marcin Pulit, the station’s director, characterized the action as an endeavor to engage a younger audience by providing discourse on subjects such as social issues, art, and culture, including LGBTQ+ concerns. In a statement, Pulit posited a fundamental issue regarding the role of AI in media, determining whether it poses a threat or an opportunity to the future of journalism.
A public objection by former OFF Radio Krakow journalist Mateusz Demski has primarily contributed to the considerable attention that the transition has garnered. Demski, a film critic and journalist who hosted a program on the station until August, expressed his dissatisfaction in an open letter on Tuesday. His argument was that the decision to replace human journalists with AI established a “hazardous precedent” that could result in a media landscape dominated by machines at the expense of experienced professionals in the industry.
Demski’s objection resonated with a significant number of individuals. By Wednesday morning, more than 15,000 individuals had signed a petition that he had initiated, which expressed apprehension regarding the trend towards automation in the media. Demski disclosed that he received enquiries from numerous individuals, including numerous young people who were concerned about the potential consequences of the experiment.
The debate regarding AI’s function in journalism also captivated the attention of government officials, according to the AP report. Krzysztof Gawkowski, Poland’s Minister of Digital Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, has expressed his support for AI development, but he has stated that certain boundaries are being breached. He emphasized the necessity of legislation to regulate the impact of AI, emphasizing that its use should be beneficial to the public, rather than detrimental.
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