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An upcoming national news channel is replacing human anchors with hyper-realistic AI-generated avatars.
Channel 1, which will launch next year, plans to use digitally generated people and digital doubles of real actors whose bodies were scanned.
The demo videos show presenters who talk, look and move like real humans, but were designed on computers using artificial intelligence technology.
Channel 1 plans to stream its news on TV apps and is set to add a translation feature to roll out globally.
The outlet’s founder told DailyMail.com that the misuse of AI-generated news is inevitable, but Channel 1 aims to “get ahead of this and create responsible use of technology.”
Some of Channel 1’s presenters are ‘digital doubles’, avatars created from a scan of a real person. These presenters will read the news with a digitally generated voice
For the biggest stories, real human anchors will report from the scene, founder Adam Mosam told DailyMail.com.
Part of this responsibility, he said, is being transparent with viewers about what footage is original and what footage is AI-generated.
For situations where the original footage is not available (a news story about the extinction of the dinosaurs, for example), the AI-generated video will be displayed on the screen and labeled as such.
The company compares this approach to courtroom sketches in a recently released teaser video.
Los Angeles-based Channel 1 will launch free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST), apps like Crackle, Tubi or Pluto, in February or March, and a Channel 1 app will arrive in the summer, Mosam said.
An AI-generated presenter reads the news, including automatically generated polls that aggregate opinions from social media.
Channel 1’s ‘digital doubles’ imitate the body language of real people while their animated face reads the news in a digital voice
The actual information contained in Channel 1 reports will come from three sources: partnerships with yet-to-be-named legacy news outlets, contracted freelance journalists, and AI-generated news reports drawn from trusted official sources such as public records and government documents.
Mosam would not say which legacy news outlets have partnered with Channel 1.
Responding to questions from DailyMail.com about public concerns that AI could generate false or unreliable information, he clarified that humans will be involved in news production at every step.
A digital double news anchor named ‘Oliver’ rubs his fingers repeatedly while reading entertainment news.
“We have people on top of things, but they end up being more efficient” due to the use of artificial intelligence tools.
One of Channel 1’s main goals is to produce personalized news broadcasts with an app that works like TikTok and learns what each viewer wants to see.
“We think we can create a better information product to really inform people better,” Mosam said.
Instead of offering viewers a standardized broadcast that plays the same hour or two of content for everyone, Channel 1 will allow consumers to select which news they watch.
“The average person watches 25 minutes of news a night on cable, so that could be 9 or 10 stories,” Mosam said.
Channel 1’s use of digital doubles helps its news presenters appear more natural, avoiding some of the problems of fully digitally created avatars, such as strange fingers or teeth.
“If we can generate 500 stories and choose the 9 or 10 that are right for you, then we will do a better job informing you and showing you what you are looking for in the allotted time.”
And over time, Mosam said, the app will learn the viewer’s preferences and habits.
Channel 1 presenters can read the news in a variety of languages. The company’s sample video shows a lecture by the presenter in Greek and Tamil.
“If it’s financial news, maybe we’re reporting on stocks you own or areas you’re interested in. If it’s sports, maybe it’s your favorite teams.”
Another system based on artificial intelligence that Channel 1 will implement is translation for international audiences.
The company’s sample reel included a local news story featuring a French man, with his voice and mouth movements digitally replaced with an English translation.
As buzz around the company grows, they are raising funds to meet their growth goals, but Mosam is keeping mum on dollar amounts.
The use of digital double presenters raises concerns about people’s rights to their own image, which actors raised as a major concern in recent Screen Actors Guild (SAG) negotiations and strikes.
“We don’t want our image to be used for something we don’t believe in, to say something crazy, to say something false to mislead people,” Mosam said. ‘That’s a scary thought. And we plan to follow all the best practices and standards that are being established, whether it’s in our industry, the entertainment industry or just, you know, as humanity in general deals with this.”
This just in… First AI-generated NEWS ANCHORS will debut on US national station next year