A new news channel is set to launch next year but with a twist: the news will be presented completely by artificial intelligence generated avatars.
Based out of Los Angeles, California, the startup called Channel 1 is set to launch in February 2024, on a number of streaming platforms such as Crackle, Tubi, or Pluto.
The company published a 22-minute promo video on their website explaining how the website will work.
Today you’ll witness AI-generated stories and headlines, captivating visuals, and data-driven insights. From global news, to finance, to entertainment, we’ll show you how technology enables us to bring you a global perspective, 24/, right from the heart of our AI newsroom, all presented by our team of AI-generated reporters.
Said one of the AI avatars
Another AI bot in the broadcast explained,
Maybe you hear the words ‘artificial intelligence,’ and you are immediately skeptical or concerned about technology gone crazy. But everything you’ll see on Channel 1 relies on trusted sources and factchecking, and uses AI to give you news the way you want it; personalized, localized, and distilled.
The scripts the AI avatars speak are also generated as well, so no one is actually telling the AI what to say, the company claims.
The anchors can speak a plethora of languages, and the curated reporters can be customized into a number of different combinations.
An another bot in the promo said Channel 1 is not “fake news,” and does not make-up stories out of thin air that are not true, but relies on “trusted” and verified sources to curate the content. Real people will also purportedly be fact-checking the AI to make sure the stories reported are not inaccurate.
But even the promo has already shown early signs of inaccuracy. In a sample segment discussing the war in Ukraine, one of the AI bots called President Volodymyr Zelensky “Vladimir” instead.
The project was first announced back in July, founded by producer and director Scott Zabielski (Tosh.0, The Jim Jefferies Show) and tech entrepreneur Adam Mosam, The Hollywood Reporter noted at the time.
Zabielski told Hollywood Reporter the ambition behind this venture.
The elephant in the room is this still looks like you’re watching a video game character talk. And does anybody really want to watch a video game character deliver the news to them? I don’t think so.
I think if the technology was was stuck here, this would be a really hard sell. So part of what we’re doing is, like any technology, you can’t wait until it’s perfect to start on day one. So we’re obviously getting ahead of this and we’re looking down the road at 12 months from now, 18 months from now, three years from now.
It is going to get to a point where you absolutely will not be able to tell the difference between watching AI and watching a human being, but we also understand that there’s going to be a pathway from here to there.
Basically, these days, everything has sort of become personalization, whether it’s Spotify learning what you want to hear and recommending songs that maybe you didn’t know about but that you’d be interested in, or TikTok, or any of these personalized algorithms. That’s something we don’t really see in news yet.
He said
Mosam went on to explain the user curation capabilities, allowing users to completely customize the news they want reported to them.
Imagine watching CNBC, except what you’re looking at is analysis of stocks that are in your portfolio, or industries that you’re already watching, or if you’re watching sports, it can go more in depth on the teams that you love, as opposed to waiting for the parts of the content that you’re really interested in.
Although we can give it to you in your perspective, from your set of opinions, we will never, ever break that wall of factual reporting. So I think that if anything, we can sort of bring people together because they feel like you’re talking to them with their set of facts, opinions and demographics, but we’re holding things closer to the middle, ultimately.
He explained, also noting that there are even liberal and conservative hosts who can deliver the news filtered through a more specific point of view.
In a more recent statement to Daily Mail, Mossam explained that Channel 1 aims to ‘get out in front of this and create a responsible use of the technology,’ acknowledging the abuse and problems AI has created.
‘Mosam told DailyMail.com that Channel 1 intends to use human anchors on the scene for more critical stories, but that scenario was not displayed in the 21-minute demonstration video,’ Daily Mail wrote. ‘Mosam would not say which legacy news outlets have partnered with Channel 1,’ the outlet added.
“We believe that we can create a better news product to really better inform people,” Mosam told the paper. He also revealed that the station will begin to recognize user’s preferences overtime.
The average person watches 25 minutes of news a night on cable, so that might be 9 or 10 stories.
If we can generate 500 stories and choose the right 9 or 10 for you, then we’re going to do a better job of informing you, showing you what you’re looking for in your allotted time.
If it was financial news, maybe we’re reporting on the stocks you own or the areas you’re interested in. If it was sports, maybe it’s your favorite teams.
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. 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 just, you know, as humanity at large deals with this.
Mosam said
Daily Mail noted that many in the industry are shocked at this concept and have derided the founders for introducing this into the foray.
Ruby Media Group CEO Kristen Ruby shared on X: “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.”
Alec Lazenby, a Canada’s BC Today reporter, also shared his concerns on X: “This is 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.”
American tech and social media commentator Lance Ulanoff echoed similar criticism in a post: “AI news anchors are exactly what you don’t need in your fact-based, news-starved life.”
News stations and publications using AI for their works is nothing new at this point, and is becoming an increasing trend.
In July The WinePress reported on a number of countries who have already implemented AI-generated anchors in some contexts, such as China, Kuwait, India, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, and the British National Health Service’s (NHS) Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Last month acclaimed magazine Sports Illustrated was caught using AI to write a number of their articles, and even created fake profiles for those pieces, but did not tell readers that it was AI. When they were caught red-handed the publication quickly tried to scrub the evidence.
In a similar fashion, a popular Oregon-based radio program adopted an AI program that emulates the voice of a popular host of their show.
And yet media houses are on board with AI taking over the workload. Google has even created a new system codenamed “Genesis,” that generates AI-created stories for news outlets.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
Fake news reported by fake reporters. How twee.
It was only a matter of time before this came about; and what makes this Channel 1 even worse than just the normal AI bots, is that this station will learn people’s preferences, and curate the content the people want to be lied with, and select anchors of their choice to be lied to with.
The lying and deceit is off the charts, and nothing can be trusted anymore, save only the trusted old Kings James Bible, no matter how many people come to despise it.
[3] And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD. [4] Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. [5] And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. [6] Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD. Jeremiah 9:3-6
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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I only had to read the headline to figure out this is coming from libtard California and more specifically the demonic city of Los Angeles, where even sorcerers are said to be uncomfortable.