U.K. TV channel deploys AI host for current affairs doc

Channel 4 said it opted for an AI-generated host for the latest episode in its long-running current affairs series, ‘Dispatches’, to raise a wider question about trust and authenticity in the digital age. (Credit: Pexels)

A British television channel became the latest from around the world to use an artificial intelligence (AI) presenter, in a program airing Monday about the emergent technology’s growing impact.

Channel 4 said it opted for an AI-generated host for the latest episode in its long-running current affairs series, ‘Dispatches’, to raise a wider question about trust and authenticity in the digital age.

The publicly-owned, privately-funded channel claimed the stunt was a first for British TV.

“The use of an AI presenter is not something we will be making a habit of at Channel 4,” its head of news and current affairs Louisa Compton said in a statement.

“Instead our focus in news and current affairs is on premium, fact-checked, duly impartial and trusted journalism -- something AI is not capable of doing.

“But this stunt does serve as a useful reminder of just how disruptive AI has the potential to be -- and how easy it is to hoodwink audiences with content they have no way of verifying.”

The Dispatches episode -- “Will AI Take My Job?” -- investigated how it is changing workplaces across industries, including law, music, fashion and medicine.

The fact that the presenter, named Aisha Gaban and who appears on-screen throughout the program, was entirely AI-generated is revealed in its closing moments.

“Some of you might have guessed: I don’t exist, I wasn’t on location reporting this story. My image and voice were generated using AI,” she informs viewers.

Highlighting the growing role of AI tools in workplaces, the episode revealed that nearly three quarters of U.K. bosses have already introduced the tech for tasks previously performed by humans.

AI hosts have been appearing on TV screens in different parts of the world for a number of years.

China’s state news agency Xinhua made headlines in 2018 when it introduced an AI news anchor who was a digital version of one of its regular presenters.

More recently, an AI persona named Fedha read the headlines for Kuwait News in the Gulf emirate, while Greek state broadcaster ERT did the same with an AI host named Hermes in May 2023, according to the BBC.

South Korean broadcaster SBS also handed over the duties of news presenting to AI-generated character Zae-In, for five months in 2023 while India and Taiwan have seen similar stunts, The Guardian reported.