After firing its journalists and relaunching this week with artificial intelligence (AI)-generated “presenters,” a Polish radio station has stirred some controversy.
OFF Radio Krakow debuted this week, claiming that it was “the first experiment in Poland in which journalists… are virtual characters created by AI,” just weeks after releasing its journalists.
According to the station in Krakow, in the south, its three avatars are intended to appeal to younger listeners by discussing social, cultural, and artistic topics, particularly those affecting LGBTQ+ individuals.
Is journalism, radio, and the media more at risk from artificial intelligence or is it more of an opportunity? In a statement, Marcin Pulit, the station’s head, said, “We will look for answers to this question.”
Mateusz Demski, a writer and film critic who formerly presented a show on the network, wrote an open letter on Tuesday objecting to “the replacement of employees with artificial intelligence,” which brought the shift national attention.
He stated, “It is a dangerous precedent that hits us all,” and he contended that it might pave the way for “a world in which people employed in creative industries and experienced employees associated with the media sector for years will be replaced by machines.”
By Wednesday morning, more than 15,000 people had signed the petition, Demski told reporters. Additionally, he added that hundreds of people have called him, many of whom are young people who do not want to be the focus of such an experiment.
Beginning in February 2022, Demski conducted interviews with Ukrainians escaping the war at OFF Radio Krakow until August, when he was fired along with roughly a dozen other journalists. Since the broadcaster is a public channel that receives funding from taxpayers, he said the action was particularly startling.
Pulit said that its listenership “was close to zero” and that no journalists were let go because to AI.
The deputy prime minister and minister of digital affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski, spoke on Tuesday, stating that he had read Demski’s request and that laws are required to control artificial intelligence.
Laptops 1000He posted on X, saying, “Even though I am a fan of AI development, I think that certain boundaries are being crossed more and more.” “AI must be widely used for people’s benefit, not against them!”
An artificial intelligence (AI)-generated presenter with a voice impersonating Polish poet and 2012 Nobel Prize laureate Wisława Szymborska conducted an “interview” on the station on Tuesday.
In an interview with TVN, Michał Rusinek, president of the Wisława Szymborska Foundation, which manages the poet’s legacy, said he gave the station permission to use Szymborska’s name in the program. He claimed that the poet would have enjoyed it and that he had a sense of humor.
