In for a penny, in for a pound…
[This is the last story I held back on Easter weekend.]
Thailand TV has launched a “news” broadcast anchored by a person who does not exist–she is generated by “Artificial Intelligence” (https://efe.com/en/other-news/2024-04-01/thailands-first-ai-presenter-debuts-on-national-tv/#:~:text=Thailand’s%20first%20AI%20presenter%20debuts%20on%20national%20TV&text=Natcha%2C%20identified%20by%20a%20banner,also%20generated%20by%20artificial%20intelligence). “She” will soon be joined by a male counterpart equally phoney.
Supposedly this will provide “fast and accurate news presentation” (it only hurts when I laugh). Started by Red China in 2018, AI nooze has become very popular in Asia.
There’s something about this that I find inexpressibly sad. Frank Field with the weather, Warner Wolfe on sports… suddenly I really miss those guys.
It will be even sadder if we can’t tell the difference anymore.
[Why does The Last Man on Earth, starring Vincent Price, pop into my head as I do this story?]
This is so pathetic. We hear people saying “I’m afraid humans will be threatened when these “smarter” AI, Robots take over and displace all of us. Well, my thought has always been–
these so-called “smart” things were created by people, so how do you expect the artificial things to out smart the creators of them. It is stupid like people thinking they can outsmart
the God who created them, isn’t it?
Very true.
No matter how I rack my brain, I can’t see a reason for it.
Makes no sense to me.
If I tell you something, whether it be in person, over a telephone call, a radio broadcast, etc. I am placing my reputation at risk, if I am not truthful. An unsigned legal document is meaningless. Even if vast amounts of effort went into its research and creation, it only takes on meaning when it is signed.
It’s been a very long time since I’ve watched television news. Nearly 20 years, and for years before that, my watching was occasional, at best. In my formative years, we knew the names and reputations of the news people at the local television station, and when I saw Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, I trusted them. In the first half of my adult life, I knew the people I saw on the Denver television stations, and there were several whom I avoided, because I knew that they would slant their reporting. One self-proclaimed “Investigative Journalist” used to spy on public works employees and try to make them look bad. Amazingly, these scandals always seemed to emerge right about sweeps week. I found her laughable, but many people believed her to be an honest reporter, and hung on her every word. But, when I saw these familiar faces on TV, I could recognize them, and could form opinions of their honesty, because of their track records.
Years ago, I was walking into my bank, and saw a familiar face, walking away from the bank. It took me a moment, but I realized that this was a young woman who appeared as a reporter on a local television station. I had no reason to speak to her, but it demonstrates that people with such high public profiles are going to be seen and recognized. While I would be very unlikely to ever confront someone in such a situation, I would imagine that television reporters probably do, occasionally, end up having to defend, or at least explain their actions when out in public.
How do you do that with AI generated characters? Simply, you cannot.
Just yesterday, while visiting with a friend, we had a very serious conversation about current events. We readily agreed that we are overloaded with information, in our day. The last thing we need is more text-to-voice “news”, with AI generated visual images, spewing even more information, which is of unknown credibility.
TV nooze is to news reporting as TV dinner is to haute cuisine.
More like table scraps from a TV dinner. 🙂
Most cable news anchors are commentators and not journalists. The honest ones will admit it up front. I do see a good sign for the future of journalism. With little investment in equipment a person can go out into the streets and interview people to find out what the common person is really thinking, or they can in disguise themselves and catch important people saying the truth in private that they lie about in public. Capturing events while they are happening and the selling your video to publications is a big industry already and many young people are drawn to it – or to be young again myself and be a crusader.
We’re never too old for this crusade!