Local TV news may soon undergo an AI-driven revolution that will make artificially-generated newscasts a reality nearly 40 years after digital anchor Max Headroom introduced the concept. Veteran newsman and author Hank Price predicts that while the transition is still a few years in the making, the process is already underway, with AI already being used to alter the voice and images of human anchors and offering the possibility to eventually create computer-generated newsreaders with their own personalities. Comparing the advent of newsroom AI to switching to robotic cameras, he says the move will be costly but save money over time.

“We must assume that at some point fully developed AI generated newscasts will become a reality,” Price — who spent three decades running TV stations for Hearst, CBS and Gannett — writes in TVNewsCheck, cautioning that AI shouldn’t be viewed as a replacement for human newscasters, but a way to enhance them.

“Don’t discount the genuine human-to-human connection that creates viewer loyalty,” Price advises, predicting “the better companies will likely take a measured approach to this new opportunity, using AI technology to give their news departments an edge that helps employees produce a richer and broader product.”

The questions raised by this transition are substantial, and “not technical; they are ethical,” Price writes, urging the industry to start thinking seriously about how AI should and should not be used with regard to news.

“As AI rolls out, those conundrums will be among the formidable issues of their time,” he notes, predicting the technology will create “a further divide between best-in-class and worst-in-class station owners.” Companies that have already shredded their newsrooms to the bone will welcome “any advancement that requires fewer people” while “the best owners, those that understand the long-term value of quality local news, will see AI as a way to expand their content and thus become stronger.”

NBC News reports evidence of the AI broadcast transition is already underway, in that “AI commentary was introduced in at least three major sports tournaments, including the Masters golf and Wimbledon tennis tournaments, for the first time this year.”

The European Broadcasting Union’s Eurovision Sport “used an AI voice to provide recaps in between live commentary at the European Athletics Team Championships in Poland,” NBC News writes, adding that “next month, the U.S. Open will also use the tech, according to Noah Syken, IBM VP of sports and entertainment partnerships,” who worked with the U.S. Masters PGA Tournament and Wimbledon 2023 tennis championships on the generative AI commentary.

Related:
How Some Local Newsrooms Are Using AI, Poynter Institute, 8/2/23
The AI Newsroom Is Closer Than You Think, TV Technology, 5/16/23
Startup to Use Generative AI to Create ‘Personalized News Network’, TV Technology, 7/27/23
Sky News Experiments with AI-Powered ‘Reporter’, The Desk, 7/7/23