AI announcers are replacing real people

3 virtual announcers appear on Indonesian TV

Nadira - one of tvOne's newest anchors - has just reported the breaking news of the Thai election campaign live in English on TV. Two days earlier, she had also reported the 23rd SEA Games in fluent Indonesian. What's special is that this anchor always maintains a professional expression and flawless outfit.

In fact, Nadira is one of three virtual TV anchors introduced by tvOne, Indonesia's most watched television station, in April. Nadira is modeled after veteran broadcaster Fahada Indi. Nadira's voice and movements are also modeled after Indi's. According to Rest of World, the two share a strong resemblance in appearance and behavior, especially the signature hijab.

Modeled after real celebrities

Amid global opposition to robots and AI replacing human labor, the tvOne editor believes that taking advantage of the latest technological innovations is an “honor” and brings many practical values. “It helps me a lot because I don’t have to be in the office all the time to work,” said broadcaster Fahada Indi.

Indi and her “clone” Nadira work side by side. While Indi reports live news from the field, Nadira is in charge of broadcasting in the studio.

tvOne's translation system uses artificial intelligence to translate Nadira's voice into other languages, including English, Chinese, and the local Sundanese and Javanese languages. This helps the broadcaster reach a diverse audience in a country with more than 300 ethnic groups like Indonesia.

According to Rest of World, digital avatars have become popular in Indonesia recently and are called “metahumans”. In addition to being broadcasters, many virtual avatars are also popular celebrities or even spokespersons for the Immigration Department of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Indonesia.

“AI will be the most influential technological revolution of humanity,” CEO Sam Altman asserted at a recent event in Jakarta.

Specifically, the Immigration Bureau of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has become the first government office to use metahumans in its operations. The agency has introduced four virtual staff teams specializing in immigration support.

Some of the avatars are modeled after Indonesian celebrities such as Ahmad Al Ghazali, Anjasmara and Ario Bayu. These virtual avatars will be communications specialists for the public service, so they will always be friendly, up-to-date and the face of the government.

At tvOne, each virtual avatar represents a demographic group in Indonesia. However, they are not yet capable of real-life interactions despite being built on AI software.

In the introduction video, the avatars' sounds are completely out of tune with the visual effects and their appearances don't match the solid-colored background behind them. As a result, Indonesians aren't too impressed with these "superhumans."

Difficult to utilize AI because of lack of deep understanding

Media studies lecturer Justito Adiprasetio at Padjadjaran University said that although many media organizations in Indonesia have started using AI, they still do not fully understand the technology.

“Many media companies use AI to polish their brands but are not capable of using it because it is impossible to optimize all the capabilities of AI without understanding the benefits and consequences it brings,” said Adiprasetio.

According to Rest of World, there are still some distinct differences between AI-powered digital products and products created entirely by AI. Most of the “superhumans” at the moment are just digital products with AI intervention. For example, Vira, a “superhuman” that appears in the form of an AI chatbot of BCA bank.

tvOne CEO Taufan Eko Nugroho believes that these “superhumans” still need real human interaction to gain the trust of the audience. Therefore, the channel’s team has been experimenting with broadcasting AI-narrated news.

But they realized that human announcers still performed better in terms of pronunciation and intonation. According to him, when news broadcasts are still controlled by humans, the station will avoid the risks that AI products bring such as fake news and bias.

These virtual editors are designed and operated by an internal team at tvOne, and they plan to develop more avatars in the future. Vice Presidents Norma Dani Risdiandita and Widya Wicara of the team insist that humans cannot be completely replaced just yet.

“Human creativity is still needed to help fill the gaps in virtual announcers. AI still has a long way to go before it can match our creativity,” Risdiandita said.

According to Zing