An emerging national news channel is replacing human anchors with hyper-realistic AI-generated avatars.
Channel 1, which launches next year, plans to use digitally generated people and digital doppelgängers of real actors with their bodies scanned.
Demonstration videos show anchors who talk, look and move like real people, but are designed on computers using artificial intelligence technology.
Channel 1 plans to stream its news via TV apps and will add a translation feature to roll it out globally.
The outlet's founder told DailyMail.com that misuse of AI-generated news is inevitable, but Channel 1 wants to “lead the way here and create responsible use of the technology.”
Some Channel 1 anchors are 'digital doppelgängers', avatars created from a scan of a real person. These anchors will read the news in a digitally generated voice
For the bigger stories, real human anchors will report on the ground, 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 original footage is not available – for example a news report about the extinction of dinosaurs – AI-generated video is shown 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 on free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) — apps like Crackle, Tubi or Pluto — in February or March, with a Channel 1 app coming in the summer, Mosam said.
An AI-generated anchor reads the news, including automatically generated polls that aggregate opinions from social media
Channel 1's 'digital doppelgängers' mimic the body language of real people as their animated faces read out the news in a digital voice
The factual information in Channel 1's reports will come from three sources: partnerships with yet-to-be-named legacy news outlets, commissioned freelance journalists and AI-generated news reports drawn from trusted official sources such as public records and government documents.
Mosam does not want to say which old news media collaborate with Channel 1.
In response to DailyMail.com's questions about public concerns that AI can generate false or unreliable information, he clarified that humans will be involved in news production every step of the way.
A digital double news anchor named 'Oliver' repeatedly flexes his fingers while reading entertainment news
“We do have people who are aware, but ultimately they become more efficient” thanks to their use of AI tools.
One of Channel 1's main goals is to produce personalized news streams with an app that functions like TikTok and learns what each viewer wants to see.
“We believe we can create a better news product to really inform people better,” Mosam said.
Rather than giving viewers a standardized broadcast that plays the same hour or two of content for everyone in the world, Channel 1 will offer consumers the ability to select which news stories they watch.
“The average person watches 25 minutes of cable news a night, so that could be nine or 10 stories,” Mosam said.
Channel 1's use of digital doubles makes their news anchors look more natural, avoiding some of the problems of fully digitally created avatars, such as creepy fingers or teeth
“If we can generate 500 stories and pick the right 9 or 10 for you, we can better inform you and show you what you're looking for in the time you get.”
And over time, Mosam says, the app will learn the viewer's preferences and habits.
Channel 1 presenters can read the news in different languages. The company's sampler video shows an anchor reading in Greek and Tamil
“If it was financial news, we might report on the stocks you own or the areas you are interested in. When it comes to sports, it might be your favorite teams.”
Another AI-based program Channel 1 will deploy is translation for international audiences.
The company's sample reel featured a local news story about a Frenchman, with his voice and mouth movements digitally replaced with an English translation.
As buzz around the company builds, they are raising money to achieve their growth goals, but Mosam is keeping mum on dollar amounts.
The use of digital double anchors raises concerns about people's right to their own likeness, which actors raised as a major concern during the recent Screen Actors Guild (SAG) negotiations and strikes.
“We don't want our likeness to get used to something we don't believe in, to say something crazy, to say something untrue to fool people,” Mosam said. 'That's a terrifying thought. And we intend to follow all the best practices and standards that are put in place, whether it's for our industry, the entertainment industry, or just, you know, as humanity in general is dealing with this.”