Odisha TV AI newscaster seen to threaten jobs
The launch of an AI virtual news anchor in India triggered a heated debate about the potential loss of media jobs caused by automation. Powered by machine learning, Odisha TV's 'Lisa' news anchor's job is to deliver news bulletins in Oriya and English on digital platforms, read horoscopes and provide weather and sports updates. According to Odisha TV managing director Jagi Mandat Panda, Lisa is intended to do repetitive work and free up staff to 'focus on doing more creative work to bring better quality news.' However, media professionals and commentators expressed concerns that the use of Lisa and news presenter robots at other broadcasters would likely lead to job losses amongst journalists and should only be used to augment rather than replace human roles. Per Nikkei Asia , a benefit of news robots is less time spent managing egos. But some media professionals expressed concerns about their impact on media credibility and trust, whilst others described Lisa as 'robotic', 'monotonous' and 'emotionless.' System 🤖 Lisa Documents 📃 Odisha TV (2023). OTV launches Odisha's first Artificial Intelligence news anchor ‘Lisa’ Operator: Odisha TV Developer: Odisha TV Country: India Sector: Media/entertainment/sports/arts Purpose: Present news Technology: Machine learning Issue: Employment
- Date it happened
- 2023-07-01
- Organisation involved
- Odisha TV
- Product, system or model
- Lisa
This incident was imported from AIAAIC and is used under CC BY-SA 4.0. Our additions to it — the structured fields, the translation, the checks against other reports — are published under the same licence.
This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.