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A Polish radio station has triggered controversy after dismissing its journalists and relaunching with AI-generated \u201cpresenters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weeks after letting its journalists go, OFF Radio Krakow relaunched this week, with what it said was \u201cthe first experiment in Poland in which journalists … are virtual characters created by AI.\u201d<\/p>\n

The station in the southern city of Krakow said its three avatars are designed to reach younger listeners by speaking about cultural, art, and social issues including the concerns of LGBTQ+ people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs artificial intelligence more of an opportunity or a threat to media, radio, and journalism? We will seek answers to this question,\u201d the station head, Marcin Pulit, wrote in a statement.
\nOn Tuesday the station broadcast an \u201cinterview\u201d conducted by an AI-generated presenter with a voice pretending to be Wis\u0142awa Szymborska, a Polish poet and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature who died in 2012.<\/p>\n

The change got nationwide attention after Mateusz Demski, a journalist and film critic who until recently hosted a show on the station, published an open letter on Tuesday protesting \u201cthe replacement of employees with artificial intelligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a dangerous precedent that hits us all,\u201d he wrote, and argued it could open the way \u201cto a world in which experienced employees associated with the media sector for years and people employed in creative industries will be replaced by machines.\u201d More than 15,000 people signed the petition by Wednesday morning, Mr. Demski said. He said the move was especially shocking because the broadcaster is a taxpayer-supported public station. Mr. Pulit insisted that no journalists were fired because of AI but because its listenership \u201cwas close to zero.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krzysztof Gawkowski, the Minister of Digital Affairs and a Deputy Prime Minister, weighed in on Tuesday, saying he had read Mr. Demski\u2019s appeal and that legislation is needed to regulate AI.<\/p>\n