News presenters, also known as news anchors or newscasters, are professionals in their fields, capable of delivering news stories and information to their audience in the most compelling ways.
These people work in TV and radio stations, cable news networks, online news platforms and others, where journalism is key.
These people should be able to deliver breaking news on short notice, being comfortable in front of the camera, high in confidence, and able to articulate information clearly.
Also, they need to adapt to changing situations, but maintain a neutral tone using their strong verbal communication abilities.
In other words, the job requires unique set of skills not everyone has.
But AI is not human.
See the highest quality AI footage in the world.
- Our generated anchors deliver stories that are informative, heartfelt and entertaining.
Watch the showcase episode of our upcoming news network now. pic.twitter.com/61TaG6Kix3— Channel 1 (@channel1_ai) December 12, 2023
The news channel, called Channel 1, is launching in February.
The technology and media startup by Adam Mosam and producer Scott Zabielski, showcases the advancement of technology, by releasing a demo episode on X and its own website.
To show what's possible using AI, the demo shows how a very real-looking avatar opens the show, just like the way a human news anchor would.
But the 'human' in the video is not at all human.
The company generated it using AI, in real time.
The news is designed for global distribution, with the anchors capable of speaking in different languages, and delivering different news to reflect the interest of different audience.
Because everything is behind the screen, and that it only involves computerized humans, Channel 1 stories are drawn from different sources around the world.
Sources include independent journalists paid a freelance rate, AI-generated news from government documents and other trusted sources, as well as the use of reporting from an outside agency.
In other words, just like many news websites out there, Channel 1 aggregates its news from more than one source.
The difference is that its story selection and editorial decisions shall be taken in part by artificial intelligence.
Some segments shall also be AI-generated where "cameras don’t have access."
It's worth noting that despite being a technology and media startup, and that it involves a generative AI product, the company still employs trained editors work to create and curate the data.
According to Mosam, humans are still involved at every step of the editorial process.
Mosam said that he has around 11 employees in his team.
Thanks to using AI, Mosam managed to significantly cut down production costs, since his company doesn't really depend on 'human' crews to find news and deliver the news.
Channel 1 will be global and offers a new way to bring us closer together through a shared perspective. Check out one of our favorite stories in Japanese! pic.twitter.com/4i6ifcJ70W
— Channel 1 (@channel1_ai) December 13, 2023
But still, according to Zabielski, the company doesn't aim to replace news anchors altogether, nor eliminate journalist writing and researching stories.
Channel 1 wants to provide a way for off-camera reporters to have their work showcased, including creating virtual avatars for them to present their work on camera.
The goal is to "give users a new more personal way to watch the news. Introducing a new personalized global news network, powered by generative AI."
He added that Channel 1 is "very clear that the audience at every point in time knows exactly what they are looking at if there has been some sort of AI modification."
In the world where a lot of things can be artificial, Channel 1 ensures its viewers that know AI is involved, by putting an icon near the corner of the screen.
Whenever visual segment or AI is involved, or even when translation algorithm is used, the icon should be clearly visible.
It's worth noting though, that 5 years before this, in 2018, China Xinhua revealed the world's first AI-based news anchor.
