A radio station in Poland has replaced its journalists with AI-generated “presenters” in what it describes as a groundbreaking experiment. OFF Radio Krakow, from the southern city of Krakow, has introduced virtual avatars created to attract the attention of young listeners through discussions of topics related to cultural, artistic, and social issues, including LGBTQ+.
Marcin Pulit, the head of this station, had one provocative question about AI’s role in journalism: “An opportunity or a threat?” He promised to explore this complicated issue more deeply.
The move has proved highly contentious, especially since former host Mateusz Demski, a journalist and film critic, loudly denounced the station’s decision. Writing in an open letter, Demski warned that replacing human workers with AI was setting a “dangerous precedent” that would threaten jobs throughout the media and creative world. His online petition against his change in status attracted more than 15,000 signatures in just a couple of days, representing a strongly disgruntled population.
Outcry notwithstanding, Pulit said the layoffs had been principally due to low audience numbers, not directly because of a shift to AI. Poland’s Minister of Digital Affairs, Krzysztof Gawkowski, said that AI should be regulated so that its development serves society rather than harms it.
It finally reached the heights of absurdity when it broadcasts an “interview” with the voice of Nobel Prize-winning poet Wislawa Szymborska, who died in 2012, generated by AI. The head of the Wislawa Szymborska Foundation, Michal Rusinek, had consented to use her name, saying that the poet’s sense of humor might have made her agree to such an experiment.
