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Last week, a Kuwaiti media outlet unveiled its first virtual news presented using AI. Equipped with blonde hair and light-colored eyes “Fedha,” the AI anchor made her debut on the Twitter account of Kuwait News.
According to the editor, the AI presenter’s look is meant to reflect the country’s diverse population of Kuwaitis and expats.
أول مذيعة في #الكويت تعمل بالذكاء الاصطناعي
— كويت نيوز (@KuwaitNews) April 8, 2023
• #فضة.. مذيعة #كويت_نيوز الافتراضية
• ما هي نوعية الأخبار التي تفضلونها بتقديم #فضة زميلتنا الجديدة؟ .. شاركونا آراءكم pic.twitter.com/VlVjasSdpb
The announcement generated a flood of reactions on social media. Some praised the virtual presenter as an innovation, while others expressed their concern about the ethics of using AI in newsrooms.
AI
Kuwait however, is not the first country to unveil an AI-generated news presenter. In 2018, China’s state news agency introduced its own virtual news anchor.
According to a report published by Goldman Sachs last month, AI can potentially replace 300 million jobs worldwide. The report also suggested that the technology could also mean new jobs and increased productivity.
But the rapid rise of AI globally has also sparked fears over its potential to spread disinformation and erode trust in mainstream media. AI tools and software are becoming more and more accessible, which means that it is becoming easier to generate fake visual and audio content and spread fake news.
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