PolandMedia and entertainment2024OFF Radio Kraków
Radio station run by AI-generated presenters
Polish public broadcaster's OFF Radio Kraków ended its AI-presenter experiment after less than a week of backlash
Problem
OFF Radio Kraków was a channel of the regional public broadcaster Radio Kraków. Its editor said the relaunch was meant as a contribution to the debate on the opportunities and threats of AI.
Approach
On 22 October 2024 the station relaunched as what it called Poland's first radio station created almost entirely by AI. Three AI presenters with fixed personalities and generated images stood in for human hosts. An AI-made interview with the late Nobel poet Wisława Szymborska aired, which her foundation had authorised, and a similar piece with Józef Piłsudski was planned. The station was set to run three months.
Results
Takeaway
Former staff said they had been dismissed to make room for the project, and public criticism followed. Editor-in-chief Marcin Pulit said a week had produced enough conclusions, and he called the project a success.
Categories
- Industry
- Media and entertainment
- Business function
- Marketing and salesStrategy and organization
- Innovation type
- Product and service innovation
- AI technology
- Generative AI
- Adoption
- Off-the-shelf tool or platform
- Evidence
- Press reporting
Sources
Source summaries
Notes from Poland reports the relaunch on 22 October 2024 and the 28 October announcement that the experiment would stop, after a planned run of three months. It describes the three AI presenters and the Szymborska interview. It quotes former staff who said they were fired, and the editor, who said enough had been learned.
Full details are in the original sources.
