Polish radio station has texts and moderation created by AI
It is only supposed to be a trial – However, a number of employees were made redundant beforehand. The "Off Radio" in Krakow is testing programs made by AI.
An AI presenter in the AI studio from the AI generator – is how Off Radio Krakow advertises its experiment with radio from the language model.
(Image: Off Radio Krakau)
Their names are Emi, Kuba or Alex, and they are on air every day on Off Radio Krakow – alone, they don't really exist. Behind the three names are digital personas of radio presenters. They look like real presenters, the tone of voice is radio-like, ranging from matter-of-fact to emotional, a pretty perfect fake. Since this week, the station, the digital edition of the larger Radio Krakow, has been using artificial intelligence for moderation and content.
The station has announced this experiment on its homepage, along with images of the digital personas, which also come from an AI. And, of course, they look exactly as the station imagines its target group: perfectly beautiful twenty-somethings, fresh from the gym, successful people with the typical smooth look of an image generator. The Kuba quoted at the beginning is such a persona, someone – or something – has also given him the nickname, according to his profile he is called Jakub "Kuba" Zielinski. He plays everything from classic rock like Led Zeppelin to electronic music like Aphex Twin.
In order for the digital Kuba to speak a text on the radio, it is created and checked by human journalists using AI tools, according to the station. A voice generator then turns it into a presentation. It is not clear from Off Radio Krakow's descriptions whether Kuba also selects the music itself, cuts transitions and everything else that a radio presenter and his producer and the editorial team (if any) do.
AI interview with a dead woman
Not only the presentation of content, but also the stories themselves, are partly created by the station using AI. One example is an interview with the late Nobel Prize winner Wisława Szymborska about the Nobel Prizes in 2024, which can be found on the Off Radio Krakow website with the author's voice. This is said to have been created with the consent of her surviving relatives, after all. At the beginning of this and other AI contributions, including the presentations by Kuba et al, the station refers to the technology behind it.
Videos by heise
The experiment with radio from AI is set to last three months, as reported by the British newspaper The Register. Before the experiment began, around a dozen employees of Off Radio Krakow were dismissed, including presenters, according to reports. The station contradicts this: it was simply a matter of temporary contracts for people who were only on air once a week. This did not work and the contracts were therefore not extended.
A social experiment?
In a statement, Off editor-in-chief Marcin Pulit tries to make the AI content really look like a significant experiment: "We want to weigh up what impact the development of artificial intelligence can have on culture, media, journalism and society." And further: "Is artificial intelligence more of an opportunity or a threat for media, radio and journalism? We will be looking for answers to this question."
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