One of Poland’s leading state broadcasters has come under fire after it launched a new radio program presented solely by artificial intelligence (AI) presenters.
The announcement came weeks after dozens of creators were sacked by the radio station, leading to protests and international concern.
What happened?
This week, OFF Radio Kraków had a big announcement — it was relaunching its radio program with three new hosts.
20-some-things Emilia, Kub and Alex would take listeners through all the events of the day during a two-hour program from Monday to Friday, with a special music broadcast once a week.
However, the trio would not be your typical presenters.
In fact they didn’t even exist.
The AI hosts were instead created by the station to be “model representatives of the so-called Generation Z” and attract a youth audience.
AI presenters Alex Szulc and Emila “Emi” Nowak. The radio station says the pair will provide commentary on culture and society. (Supplied: Off Radio Kraków’)
While the program was presented as a trial, station head Marcin Pulit said it could lead to a “powerful dose of knowledge” about the technology.
“Is artificial intelligence more of an opportunity or a threat to media, radio and journalism? We will seek answers to this question,” he said in a statement.
The station noted that information was still checked and verified by human journalists.
What’s the controversy?
While the anxiety around AI is long-documented, the introduction of the hosts came at an especially jarring moment.
Just weeks earlier, dozens of members of the broadcaster — including journalists, creators and musicians — were dismissed.
Journalist and film critic Mateusz Demski protests against the new AI hosts. (Supplied: Instagram/Mateusz Demski )
One of these was journalist and film critic Mateusz Demski, who worked at OFF Radio Kraków from February 2022, carrying out interviews with Ukrainians fleeing war, until August.
Mr Demski immediately penned an open letter to the station protesting the replacement.
“It is a dangerous precedent that hits us all,” he wrote, and argued it could open the way “to a world in which experienced employees associated with the media sector for years and people employed in creative industries will be replaced by machines.”
More than 15,000 had signed a petition protesting the move by Wednesday morning local time, Mr Demski told The Associated Press.
Radio Krakow is one of Poland’s leading state broadcasters. (AFP: Beata Zawrzel / NurPhoto )
What have they broadcast so far?
Only a few days into broadcasting, the new hosts caused further outrage when they interviewed 1996 Nobel prize winner and esteemed poet Wisława Szymborska.
Szymborska chatted with host Emilia about Han Kang recently receiving the 2024 Nobel Prize in Literature, her personal experience after winning the accolade and even Pedro Pascal.
Seem pretty innocuous right?
It would be if Szymborska hadn’t died in 2012.
Nobel prize winning poet Wisława Szymborska “spoke” to the new AI hosts. (Supplied: Fundacja Wisławy Szymborskiej)
The station said the interview was made with the consent of the Wisława Szymborska foundation president Michał Rusinek.
Mr Rusinek told the broadcaster TVN that he agreed to let the station use Szymborska’s name in the broadcast because the poet had a sense of humour and would have liked it.
The hosts’ commitment to appealing to a Gen Z audience also extended to a discussion of social issues including the concerns of LGBTQIA+ people.
Mr Demski worried, in particular, these topics needed to be discussed with “special tenderness and sensitivity.”
“We are aware that modern AI systems and technologies are becoming an integral part of everyday life, as well as various professions (including the world of culture and media),” he wrote.
“However, we are of the opinion that the media – despite technical innovations – is created by people.”
What happens now?
Krzysztof Gawkowski, the Minister of Digital Affairs and a deputy prime minister, weighed in on Tuesday, saying he had read Mr Demski’s appeal and that legislation is needed to regulate AI.
“Although I am a fan of AI development, I believe that certain boundaries are being crossed more and more,” he wrote on social media platform X.
“The widespread use of AI must be done for people, not against them!”
Mr Demski said the Association of Polish Journalists supported the petition as did the Polish press freedom monitoring centre which called the move “further evidence of the ongoing degradation of public media”.
In December 2023, the Polish government introduced measures to seize control of public broadcasters TVP and Polskie Radio as well as the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
ABC/ AP