The new iteration of OFF Radio Kraków is a research and media experiment aimed at diagnosing the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on culture, media, journalism, and society, according to a statement by the station's liquidator and editor-in-chief, Marcin Pulit, which has drawn backlash from former journalists and thousands of individuals expressing their outrage on social media.
Although the idea of using artificial intelligence on the radio is just an experiment, it has sparked a powerful response throughout Poland.
The controversy was not only about the conversation with Szymborska but also about the fact that there were no live hosts involved. Instead, the journalists were replaced by three virtual personas created online.
Lawyers quoted by the Polish state news agency PAP pointed out the potential infringement on the personal rights of the deceased author, whose voice was used in the artificially generated interview.
Despite numerous critical opinions, Michał Rusinek, the secretary of Wisława Szymborska, expressed a positive view of the idea.
The writer believed that the poet, known for her great sense of humor, would certainly have accepted this creative use of new technologies.
In Rusinek's opinion, the statements generated by artificial intelligence were quite well aligned with Szymborska's style, even if not everything said by "her" version would have been precisely what she would have expressed.
He argued that broadcasting such an interview does not mislead the audience, and that the poet might have reacted similarly if she had been alive and learned who won the Nobel Prize this year.
Source: PAP/TVN24/Off Radio Kraków
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