AI To Replace TV Anchors and Reporters (Worthy News In-Depth)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
LOS ANGELES/JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Artificial Intelligence (AI), already filling in as clergy and adding texts to the Bible, will soon replace television news anchors despite concerns it blurs the lines between truth and fake.
Journalists have expressed shock about plans to launch the first-ever known Al-generated news television network, a digital version of CNN, to viewers across America next year.
Channel 1 will launch in 2024 and aims to be the first nationally aired TV network to use Al avatars instead of human anchors.
AI news anchors at the TV station in Los Angeles, the second-largest U.S. television market, can be seen on free advertising-supported online streaming applications or apps, including mobile phones.
The apps where Channel 1 could be viewed in the United States from February are, for instance, Crackle, Tubi, or Pluto, the network said.
Channel 1 provided a glimpse of its future content, sharing a video of its upcoming content, depicting AI-generated anchors reporting the news like real human beings would.
“Hello and welcome to channel one,” an AI person resembling a woman tells viewers in the video reviewed by Worthy News.
NEW NEWS WAY
It is “A new way of consuming, reporting and thinking about the news powered by Artificial Intelligence.” And to give “a global perspective 24/7 right from the heart of our AI-native newsroom,” she pledges.
Channel 1 identifies its talking heads as a “team of AI-generated reporters.” But to be clear, Channel 1 isn’t trying to fool people with “deepfakes” of existing news anchors or anything like that, the AI ‘female’ anchor claims.
“You can hear us and see our lips moving, but no one was recorded saying what we’re all saying. I’m powered by sophisticated systems behind the scenes.”
An AI-invented anchor, whose gender appears male, adds, “Our system only relies on trusted news sources to bring the best journalism on any topic from around the world into a single news program. Thanks to our translation capabilities, we can feature real-life reporters from around the world.”
The video shows an AI-created news program, including about “military operations of Israeli Defense forces in Gaza.” The company’s sample reel also shows a news story featuring a French man showing devastation after a storm. His voice and mouth movements were digitally replaced with an English translation.
It is part of AI translation that Channel 1 wants to employ for international audiences.
PERSONALIZED NEWS NETWORK
Explaining the content, an AI anchor notes that human producers and editors are “also” involved in the news gathering, though the extent of their role remains unclear.
Yet Channel 1’s unveiling of the AI-generated news program, billed as a “personalized news network,” has sparked a debate inside the media industry.
The news horrified reporters in the United States, who warned it could “have huge ramifications for an already depleted news industry.”
Channel 1 founder Adam Mosam claims 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.”
However, using digital double anchors has sparked concerns about people’s rights to their likeness, which actors raised as a significant worry in the recent Screen Actors Guild (SAG) negotiations and strikes.
“We wouldn’t want our likeness to be used to something we don’t believe in, to say something insane, to say something untrue to fool people,” Mosam said. “That’s a terrifying thought. And we plan to follow all the best practices and standards that are being laid out whether it’s our industry, the entertainment industry, or, you know, as humanity at large deals with this.”
NEW NEWS ERA
He and producer and director Scott Zabielski said their initiative stressed that they want to introduce “a new era in news broadcasting,” blending “AI’s capabilities with traditional journalistic values.”
Ruby Media Group CEO Kristen Ruby isn’t convinced. “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,” Ruby argued on social media platform X.
The creators’ ambition to produce up to 1,000 items daily could also reshape news consumption patterns in an already constant-on-the-alert world.
And the volume raised worries about the depth of reporting and the potential for AI to prioritize quantity over quality.
Alec Lazenby, a reporter for Canada’s BC Today radio program, called the project “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,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The introduction of AI anchors comes amid concerns among Christians about the technology that has already added functional texts to the Bible.
VEGAN-FRIENDLY BIBLE
Recently, a “vegan-friendly version of the Word of God” was introduced by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
It’s an AI-crafted rewrite of the Bible that aligns the book of Genesis with the group’s animal rights messaging. Produced as a digital download with a virtual “vegan leather” cover, ‘The Book: PETA’s Version of the Creation Story’ is billed as a “first-of-its-kind AI-generated vegan interpretation of the book of Genesis.”
PETA said that “the message in Genesis is that God created every sentient being, He saw that they were good, and He gave them greens for sustenance.”
And if consumers ever wondered how Jonah felt while being trapped inside the whale’s stomach for three days, why Solomon had so many wives, or why Judas betrayed Jesus, a new application called “Text With Jesus” replicates an instant messaging platform. ‘Biblical figures’ are impersonated by the AI intelligence program ChatGPT, which was developed without Bible experts.
Earlier this year, over 300 people attended an experimental ChatGPT-powered church service at St. Paul’s church in the Bavarian town of Fürth in Germany.
The 40-minute sermon included text generated by OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot and delivered by avatars on a television screen above the altar.
BEARDED MAN SEEN
The chatbot, initially personified as a bearded man with a fixed expression and monotone voice, addressed the audience by proclaiming, “Dear friends, it is an honor for me to stand here and preach to you as the first artificial intelligence at this year’s convention of Protestants in Germany.”
A pastor working in Israel told Worthy News he had warned his children not to be surprised if an AI person resembling him would tell them not to believe in Jesus or Yeshua.
With AI already changing Bible texts and soon explaining the world news through AI anchors, questions remain about whether the truth can still be found in this rapidly changing world.
Anthony Levandowski, a Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur, isn’t worried: He has launched an Al church called Way of the Future, saying he wants “to build a spiritual connection” between humans and Al.
It was unclear when and if AI television preachers will soon appear on AI’s Channel 1 or other television networks.
However, Jane Rosenzweig, director of Harvard Writing Center, still had some hope for trustworthy journalism and human storytelling.
There is “much to say about this. But for now [I am] just noting that these AI-generated non-human news anchors are not really going to be delivering ‘heartfelt’ news stories,” Rosenzweig argued.
If you are interested in articles produced by Worthy News, please check out our FREE sydication service available to churches or online Christian ministries. To find out more, visit Worthy Plugins.