The tech, the business, and the biases that run them

Speaking to Newslaundry, BIG TV’s CEO, Ajay Reddy Konda, said the initial investment made for the AI development platform was “miniscule” compared to “what his company pays a human anchor” .

“A good human anchor would cost [me] ₹70,000-₹80,000 per month, whereas an AI anchor costs around ₹7,000-₹8,000 per month”, he said. BIG TV introduced Maya, India’s first Telugu AI news anchor, in July 2023.

Paying an upfront fee for developing an AI avatar and then paying monthly subscription charges for operating the avatar makes more “financial sense for news organizations”, Rishab Sharma, co-founder of Personate, a tech outfit, told Newslaundry. Sharma’s company played a key role in developing AI anchors for India Today and DD Kisan. 

However, despite the monetary advantages AI anchors may bring for news outlets, they are not without problems.

AI-generated content ‘unreliable’

The news channels, Sharma’s company developed AI anchors for, do not rely on computer-generated news presenters and press human intervention into service at almost all levels. The reason: AI–genereated content isn’t always reliable.

“AI anchors hallucinate a lot,” Sharma admits, referring to instances entailing AI “cooking up” details of events that never occurred. 

Writers and editors in the newsrooms draft a script and upload it on an AI platform to create an audio which is then lip-synced with the AI anchor, he said. 

Most news outlets follow a similar set of steps for programmes involving AI presenters. 

“We usually do a five-minute bulletin [with our AI news anchor], and it takes around two to three hours for the preparation, including manually writing and editing the script”, BIG TV’s Konda explained. 

To some, the need for human oversight at each step makes the purpose of AI news anchors redundant. 

“If humans are writing scripts and feeding them into an AI anchor, then what’s the point?” argued Nivash Jeevanandama, a senior researcher at IndiaAI – a Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology initiative on artificial intelligence. “It’s just an artificial doll reading out pre-written content”, he said, referring to AI news anchors. 

Even in newsrooms where AI anchors do collate and generate material for news bulletins and other videos, the content is reviewed by a team of editors.

The AI framework Odisha TV’s Lisa employs drafts scripts for bulletins based on real-time updates making production “faster and more efficient”, however, all details are “verified and fact-checked”, said Litisha Mangat Panda, a senior business associate at the Odia channel. To ensure no misleading information is put out, especially around sensitive issues, Panda said, “Editors double-check every AI-generated update before it goes on air”. 

Even if concerns about the accuracy of the content they generate are put aside, AI news anchors are still far from perfect.

BIG TV’s Konda concedes that bulletins hosted by anchors are “very monotonous” and lack the “emotional nuances” a human presenter brings to the screen. 

Issues about AI anchors presenting news also go beyond the confines of the newsrooms. 

‘AI news anchors reflect gender bias’ 

A striking number of AI news presenters in India are female. 

For instance, of the six AI news presenters introduced by the India Today group, five are females. Of the five, Naina, who delivers news in Bhojpuri, is also curiously referred to as “Bhojpuri Bhabhi (sister-in-law)”  by the group in news bulletins. 

Originally Appeared Here