A national media group has unveiled India’s first full-time virtual anchor, a bot named Sana that will present news updates several times a day in multiple languages.
The AI-powered anchor will feature on the India Today Group's Aaj Tak news channel.
"She is bright, gorgeous, ageless, tireless," said the group's vice chairperson, Kallie Purie, at a launch event last week attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I am very lucky to have been chosen as Aaj Tak AI’s launch anchor from among the hundreds of candidates evaluated for the job,” Sana said in flawless English, before showing off her local linguistic skills.
The humanoid requested an interview with Modi in 2024, when the prime minister – a driving force behind the development of AI services in India – will face voters for a third term in office.
Meet Sana, India’s first AI-powered news anchor, who will present news several times a day in different languages on Aaj Tak. How will this impact human anchors? Only time will tell. Find out more about Sana here: https://t.co/FnXjNBwcy9
— Thinkly - Stay Relevant (@mythinkly) March 28, 2023
VC: Aaj Tak#Sana #AI #News #NewsUpdates pic.twitter.com/IVCSoFkSru
Fake impartiality?
Some hope bots will help to fight to fake and paid news in India, where many of the more than 890 private TV stations and 18,000 publications dependent on government advertising are accused of glossing over pressing issues.
Critics denounce them as “Godi”, or “lapdog”, media.
But experts said AI presenters could soon be doing serving propaganda in India, where 200 million homes have TV, including 22 million internet-enabled sets.
The country consumes a huge quantity of online content and people have deep trust in artificial intelligence, according to a recent international survey, which found that 75 percent of respondents were willing to trust and accept AI systems.
STUDY: A KPMG survey found that Brazil, India, China, and South Africa have over 50% of their population showing strong trust in artificial intelligence technologies. India had the highest trust rate at 75%. pic.twitter.com/5aJ54pEaZe
— Coingraph | News (@CoingraphNews) April 4, 2023
“It will be manufacturing consent as media houses will be inclined to use bots to fend off criticism against partisan editorial content and keep their human away from controversies,” independent journalist Shahira Naim told RFI.
TV journalists seen as pro-government have been heckled on the streets by supporters of opposition political parties.
Sana Amjad, a Pakistani TV host, was nonplussed. “Problems will now mount for Indian news anchors,” she predicted, as some other media groups said they would wait for Sana’s ratings.
“I don’t really understand the purpose of this,” said communications professor Shivaji Sarkar, pointing out that thousands of people graduate in journalism every year but find few jobs in India’s media market.
Battle of the bots
India is now one of at least four countries to usher in AI-powered broadcasters. An online news channel, Channel IAM, claimed to pip Sana with its own AI presenter, who speaks with a conspicuously American accent.
Russia’s Svoye TV last month introduced Snezhana Tumanova as its first virtual weather presenter, but assured it was some way from replacing her human colleagues with bots.
In South Korea, TV channel MBN used one of its real-life anchors to generate an AI equivalent in 2018, featuring the two on air side by side.
China’s Xinhua news agency unveiled the world's first AI anchors all the way back in 2018, while the state-run People’s Daily added virtual presenter Ren Xiaorong to its news team last month.
The bot's creators boast that it will broadcast news 24 hours a day with the professional skills of “thousands of news anchors”, though so far its functions have been limited to sharing messages echoing the government's line.
Earlier this year, Venezuela's main state broadcaster aired videos of English-speaking reporters who were later revealed to be deepfakes – AI-generated avatars spouting stories that flattered the government.
Prominent computer scientists and other tech industry notables including Twitter CEO Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak recently called for a six-month pause in the development of AI systems, warning of "profound risks to society and humanity".
But other technocrats have brushed off fears around the new technology, especially in India, which currently does not have laws or rules relating to artificial intelligence.
Jibu Elias, head of content at the Indian government’s national AI portal, INDIAai, told NDTV that the country was "on the right path" with its upcoming Digital India Bill, which will introduce a new regulatory framework for emerging technologies including artificial intelligence.
He recommended "risk-based regulations", with the tightest restrictions reserved for AI services in high-stakes fields such as healthcare.
