- TV presenter revealed to be AI-generated
- The stunt was part of the Channel 4 documentary Will AI take my job? Expeditions, broadcast on October 20 in the United Kingdom
- Documentary explores how AI automation is reshaping the workplace and is now available to stream
There’s no doubt that the use of AI is increasing across the entertainment world and top streaming services, but UK broadcaster Channel 4 has gone a step further by unveiling Britain’s first AI TV presenter.
In the new documentary Will AI take my job? Expeditions, first broadcast on October 20, the presenter was revealed to be AI-generated in his final moments. As our host tells us: “I’m not real. On British television, I’m first and foremost an AI presenter. Some of you may have guessed: I don’t exist, I wasn’t there to tell this story. My image and my voice were generated using AI.”
Channel 4’s head of news and current affairs, specialist news and sport, Louisa Compton, added in a press release: “Using an AI presenter is not something we will get used to at Channel 4 – instead our focus in news and current affairs is on quality, fact-checked, properly impartial and reliable journalism – something AI is not capable of doing.”
“But this stunt is a useful reminder of how disruptive AI can be – and how easy it is to fool audiences with content they have no way of verifying.”
Yet it is potentially too little, too late for Channel 4 to present such a real danger and immediately retract. Viewers are already comparing the experience to a Black mirror episode, and I’m not buying it as a one-off experience.
Opinion: Channel 4’s AI TV presenter’s stunt is a lesson we need to learn, but will we?
Look on it
As one viewer said on X/Twitter: “A twist! In #Dispatches! It’s like Black mirrorThey’re not wrong. The new documentary is crafted with more artful intent and more astute revelations than most TV shows or movies we’ve consumed in recent years, and I think we’ll get the wrong message from it.
It’s probably pretty clear by now, from the *vague gestures around*, that we humans don’t have the best sense of judgment. As I wrote when AI actress Tilly Norwood started making waves in Hollywood, “I can’t help but think of this viral quote from Joanna Maciejewska when it comes to Tilly Norwood: ‘I want AI to do my laundry and my dishes so I can make art and write, not have AI do my art and I write so I can do my laundry and my dishes.'”
Where is Norwood now, other than some old news story that we’ve already forgotten, lost in the endless digital news cycle? My best guess is that we’ll be outraged by Channel 4’s stunt for a collective 30 seconds before moving on, forgetting that it ever happened.
Frankly, it’s not enough. Not only do we need to do more – industry professionals, the media, the public, etc. – to do more. – to achieve the best possible balance between AI and entertainment, but this initiative has likely opened the door to generating more talent rather than hiring it. As Norwood and Channel 4 have proven, we are at the tip of a dangerous iceberg.
Browse all of my brilliant colleagues’ TechRadar coverage and you’ll discover many great uses of AI, in and out of creative fields. However, AI is not necessary when it comes to accessing talent or telling documentary stories. In fact, I’d say it’s a matter of less is more.
Let’s strive to make life easier for fantastic creators when it comes to creating the things we love… without completely destroying them. I have a feeling I’m going to repeat this over and over, for many years, until I’m blue in the face.
Will AI take my job? Dispatches can now be streamed on Channel 4 in the UK, while international viewers need a VPN to do so.
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