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South Korean television channel MBN recently
introduced its viewer’s to the Asian country’s first ever
AI-powered news anchor, an eerily realistic version of human
anchor Kim Ju-ha.
Developed by MBN in partnership with artificial intelligence
production company Money Brain, South Korea’s first AI-powered
news anchor was reportedly shockingly similar to her human
inspiration. Not only did it have the exact same look and voice
of the popular presenter, but she also mimicked the small
gestures that Kim sometimes makes, like fiddling with a pen
while reporting the news. During a broadcast on November 6, AI
Kim even shared a conversation with real-life Kim Ju-ha to
compare their voices, which apparently freaked out a lot of
people.
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“I was created through deep learning 10 hours of video of Kim Ju-ha,
learning the details of her voice, the way she talks, facial
expressions, the way her lips move and the way she moves her body, the
AI-powered news anchor said, according to Korea JoongAng Daily. “I am
able to report news exactly the way that anchor Kim Ju-ha would.”
MBN revealed that AI news casters may be better suited to deal with
natural disasters and other emergencies, as they are available at any
time, day or night. The company also expects this new technology to help
it cut labor and production costs.
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As scary as that sounds to human news anchors, some experts are
convinced that digital, AI-powered avatars will never fully replace
human anchors. Yoo Seung-chul, a professor at the School of
Communication & Media at Ewha Womans University, in Seoul, believes that
the concept known as “uncanny valley” (the idea that an almost
human-looking robot/digital avatar seems overly “strange” to some human
beings, inducing a feeling of uncanniness) will help human anchors keep
their job.
“It cannot cross a very fine line where it’s not too different from us,
but not too similar either,” Yoo said. “And even if it becomes too
natural for us to tell whether it’s real or not, the human mind will
immediately reject it once it finds out that it’s not real.”
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Viewers reactions to AI Kim’s unveiling on November 6 were mixed, with
some people praising its likeness to the real Kim Ju-ha, while others
declared themselves “freaked out” by the same unnatural likeness.
While AI Kim may be South Korea’s first ever AI-powered news anchor,
it’s definitely not the first such creation in the world. A couple of
years ago, China’s state news agency Xinhua unveiled two very realistic
looking AI news anchors, and last year it followed up with its first
female AI-powered anchor, which looked just as impressive as MBN’s
digital avatar.
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