(from scroll.in) China’s state-run Xinhua news agency has new star anchors – virtual presenters that use artificial intelligence (AI) to read the news.
The AI newsreaders were unveiled on Wednesday at the World Internet Conference tech expo in Wuzhen. While one suit-clad anchor presented the news in Chinese, the other did so in English. “Hello, you are watching English news program, I’m AI news anchor,” the English-speaking presenter said at the beginning of the first broadcast.
The virtual anchor’s features are based on a real-life Xinhua host, Zhang Zhao, but his voice is robotic.
I’ll admit it’s kind of cool and it could result in significant cost savings (David Muir of ABC News allegedly earns $5 million per year) but I don’t think I would enjoy watching the news delivered in such a manner as much as I enjoy watching a live news anchor.
So I think all TV news anchors will survive to give another broadcast, but who knows for how much longer until some accountant comes along and decides that a robot is good enough.
Enjoy your favorite anchor while you can.
