A Polish radio station has sparked controversy after sacking its journalists and replacing them with AI-generated “presenters.” Following the layoffs, OFF Radio Krakow re-emerged this week, claiming to conduct “the first experiment in Poland in which journalists … are virtual characters created by AI.”
The station, based in the southern city of Krakow, stated that its three avatars are intended to engage younger listeners by discussing cultural, artistic, and social issues, including the concerns of LGBTQ+ individuals. “Is artificial intelligence more of an opportunity or a threat to media, radio and journalism? We will seek answers to this question,” wrote Marcin Pulit, the head of the station, in a statement.
The change garnered nationwide attention after Mateusz Demski, a journalist and film critic who recently hosted a show on the station, published an open letter on Tuesday protesting “the replacement of employees with artificial intelligence.”
“It is a dangerous precedent that hits us all,” he wrote, arguing that it could pave 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.”
By Wednesday morning, more than 15,000 people had signed the petition, Demski informed The Associated Press. He reported receiving calls from hundreds of individuals, many of whom were young people opposed to being subjects of such an experiment.
Demski worked at OFF Radio Krakow from February 2022, conducting interviews with Ukrainians fleeing war, until August, when he was among around a dozen journalists who were let go. He described the decision as shocking, given that the broadcaster is a taxpayer-supported public station.
Pulit maintained that no journalist was dismissed due to AI but rather because the station’s listenership “was close to zero.”
Krzysztof Gawkowski, the minister of digital affairs and a deputy prime minister, commented on Tuesday, stating he had read 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 X.
“The widespread use of AI must be done for people, not against them!”
On Tuesday, the station aired an “interview” conducted by an AI-generated presenter with a voice mimicking that of Wisława Szymborska, a Polish poet and Nobel Prize winner who passed away in 2012.
Michał Rusinek, the president of the Wisława Szymborska Foundation, which manages the poet’s legacy, told broadcaster TVN that he agreed to allow the station to use Szymborska’s name in the broadcast. He remarked that the poet had a sense of humour and would have appreciated it.
