This Sunday, India’s change-defying official broadcaster Doordarshan surprised everyone by assigning an AI Anchor Bhumi to read out the news. Draped in sari and speaking in a familiar DD style, Bhumi read out hottest news of the day, the heatwave across the country. The “Mausam Ka Haal” presenter dwelt on the onslaught of heat with nuggets of advice to stay indoors and gulping loads of water to beat the heat.
The chin-wagging, digital avatar of flesh and bone news readers did not really cut jobs in the largest media employer but has indeed, suddenly put the DD in the forefront, jostling for space among several Indian private news channels which too have their own AI anchors.
The test-bed for DD’s AI anchors Bhumi and Krish (the male counterpart) is DD Kisan which people watch only when flipping channels. Best part of an AI anchor is “she” can not be trolled off-studio by the viewers for her voice, or the way she dressed. Bhumi will also not be caught off-camera combing her hair, live. Sad day for compulsive trolls!
However, compared to global counterparts such as China’s “Xin Xiaomeng” of Xinhua news agency, South Korea’s “Kim Ju-ha” of Maeil Broadcasting Network (MBN), or Marathi-speaking “Newsbot” of News18 Lokmat TV, Bhumi and Krish lack facial mobility and lip-sync that are necessary to look more natural.
Nevertheless, DD has put its best foot forward by telling the private players that it is not behind when it comes to induction of new and newer tech in the forever growing business of news. Doordarshan says that its DD Kisan is going to become the first government TV channel of the country to adopt an AI anchor. Both, Bhumi and Krish can read news 24×7 and can speak in fifty languages of the country and abroad.
The farmer viewers will be able to see these anchors in all the states of the country from Kashmir to Tamil Nadu and from Gujarat to Arunachal. These AI anchors will provide every necessary information about agricultural research happening in the country and global level, trends in agriculture mandis, changes in the weather or any other information of government schemes.
Adoption of AI anchors among Indian channels have produced mixed results. Odisha TV (OTV) launched an AI anchor “Lisa” for delivering regional news in Odia. However, the AI anchor struggled with the nuances of the Odia language, leading to frequent mispronunciations and awkward pauses. There was a lack of fluency and natural rhythm. The feedback from viewers was overwhelmingly negative and OTV decided to discontinue Lisa and revert to human anchors.
On other hand, “Newsbot” of News18 Lokmat has been praised for its fluent Marathi language skills and the ability to engage with regional audiences effectively. Key to Newsbot’s success lies in its sophisticated language processing capabilities, which allow it to handle the intricacies of Marathi language and use its rich and diverse vocabulary.
Globally also, the results are mixed. China’s “Xin Xiaomeng” delivers news in a synthesized, human-like voice, complete with realistic facial expressions and lip movements. The technology behind it utilized advanced algorithms and deep learning techniques to create a lifelike digital presence. Xin Xiaomeng was modelled after a real human anchor.
South Korea’s MBN channel’s Kim Ju-ha has a lifelike appearance and its modelling on real life popular anchor Kim Ju-ha has helped it gain acceptance among viewers. Kim Ju-ha is particularly proficient in delivering weather forecasts and breaking news, where consistency and speed are crucial.
Of course, there have been moments of embarrassment for AI anchors, too. Xin Xiaomeng froze mid-sentence, staring blankly at the camera due to a technical glitch. Kim Ju-ha once started reading the news with an eerie, almost robotic tone with an uncanny ghost-like valley drone. Programmed to read serious news, an AI anchor of a Japanese channel was assigned the task of reporting on a new dance craze. Poor anchor was tied in knots with a stiff and awkward responses, trying to explain the stuff.
Despite these teething problems, AI anchors are a work in progress in the intersection of artificial intelligence and journalism. They are being continually refined and have shown remarkable improvement over time.
Though there is still a substantial preference for human news, a survey by the Pew Research Center found that a significant portion of the public is open to receiving news from AI-generated sources.
AI anchor market is growing steadily. A report by MarketsandMarkets forecasts that the AI in media and entertainment market, which includes AI anchors, will grow from USD 1.8 billion in 2020 to USD 3.7 billion by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.9%.
This growth is driven by the increasing demand for automated content creation and the integration of AI in various media applications.
