Off Radio Krakow, a state-funded radio station in Poland, recently terminated the position of host Lukasz Zaleski to introduce an AI-generated presenter. The controversial decision was compounded when the channel aired an AI-generated interview with the late Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska, who died in 2012.

Zaleski, who hosted a weekly show focused on interviews with theater directors and writers, expressed dismay at the station’s actions. Initially resigned to the realities of the media industry, his frustration grew after witnessing the AI-generated interview.

“I went to her funeral, so I know for sure she died,” he said, according to a report in New York Times.

The experiment aimed to breathe new life into Off Radio Krakow, which apparently had “almost no listeners” before the introduction of the AI ​​segments. Following the debut of the AI ​​presenters, the station’s audience ballooned to 8,000 almost overnight. The AI-generated content included three fictional presenters, each with a created identity, intended to attract young listeners.

However, the use of AI to reproduce the voices of deceased characters has sparked a storm of criticism. Mariusz Marcin Pulit, the channel’s editor-in-chief, was accused of undermining human contributions to the media. “I have become a job-killing monster who wants to replace real people with avatars,” he lamented, saying the aim was to stimulate debate around AI in the context of legislative debates in course in Poland.

The backlash was accompanied by harsh criticism from other journalists and industry figures. Jaroslaw Juszkiewicz, whose voice was replaced by AI in a navigation app, condemned Szymborska’s interview as a violation of journalistic ethics. He expressed disbelief at the decision to create an interview with a personality who could not respond.

The situation became even worse when the National Radio and Television Council, a regulatory body, criticized Pulit for “eliminating the human factor” in the media. Even government officials, including the Minister of Digitalization, have expressed concern about the ethical boundaries crossed by the use of AI.

In response to the growing backlash, Pulit announced the shutdown of AI presenters. “We are pioneers, and the fate of pioneers can be difficult,” he communicated to staff, acknowledging the negative reception to the AI ​​initiative. This included removing AI-generated presenters, like “virtual pop culture expert” Emilia, who conducted the now-infamous Szymborska interview.

While Michal Rusinek, who manages Szymborska’s literary estate, initially approved the use of her voice, he later criticized the quality of the AI-generated interview, calling it “horrible” and poor representation of the true spirit of the poet.

Experts on the role of AI in journalism have noted that, for now, the technology appears to assist rather than replace human journalists. Felix Simon noted that “there is still reason to believe that this will not lead to the disappearance of the big jobs that some fear.”

Zaleski and fellow fired colleague Mateusz Demski have launched an online petition, warning that the Off Radio Krakow incident sets a dangerous precedent for the media industry. “The use of AI-generated presenters… opens the door to a world in which experienced employees associated for years with media and people employed in creative industries will be replaced by machines,” they warn.

The world is now grappling with the implications of AI in the creative industries, challenging the balance between innovation and the irreplaceable value of human voices and perspectives.

With the contribution of agencies.