A “journalist” from OFF Radio Kraków created by AI conducted a “live” interview with Wisława Szymborska, who has been deceased since 2012. Artificial intelligence responded to the Nobel Prize winner's voice, among others: to questions about which writer she considers worthy of the Nobel Prize and what advice she would give to young creators. The conversation was part of the radio station's “experiment”.
As we reported earlier, the station got rid of live journalists, justifying it with poor listenership results.
After a few weeks, three hosts created by AI appeared on the air as part of a “research and media experiment”.
On Tuesday, listeners of OFF Radio Kraków could listen to a conversation created by artificial intelligence between the non-existent journalist Emilia “Emi” Nowak and the voice of the late Wisława Szymborska, also generated by AI.
“The new version of the OFF Radio Kraków channel is a research and media experiment, trying to diagnose and answer the question of what effects the development of artificial intelligence may have on culture, media, journalism and society,” we read in the radio's press release, signed by the station's liquidator and the editor. chief Marcin Pulit. His decision sparked opposition from former radio journalists and thousands of people who expressed their outrage on social media.
Interview of a virtual journalist with Szymborska's generated voice
The generated voice of Nobel laureate Wisława Szymborska, asked on the air by “journalist” Emilia Nowak about who she thinks is worthy of the Nobel, stated on OFF Radio Kraków that she “does not like rankings, lists and distinctions.” – Since you're asking, I think so Olga Tokarczuk she's a great winner, even though her books are completely different than my poems. But I appreciate her for writing boldly about the world and the human condition. What's more, her books are appreciated all over the world, said the “writer”.
The “journalist” provided some information on the air that the novel “Empuzjon” by Olga Tokarczuk was appreciated all over the world. Szymborska's fake said in reaction that “Empuzjon” is a “masterpiece”. – By the way, did you see that Pedro Pascal, the Pedro Pascal, shared a photo on his Instagram in which he holds Olga Tokarczuk's book “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead”? It's nice to see that Americans like Tokarczuk's prose. But you asked who should get the Nobel Prize. I very much regret that Philip Roth did not receive it (…) – continued the voice of the poet who died in 2012, predicting the Nobel Prize for the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami.
The “writer” also responded to the question about what advice she would give to young creators. – If I can give you any advice, it is not to write for the Nobel Prize – said a voice on OFF Radio Kraków. – It's like playing with words that we create ourselves. The Nobel Prize is a nice bonus, but not an end in itself. True joy comes from the joy of writing itself (…). If I can give one more piece of advice, it's don't take yourself too seriously. Literature is created by people, and people are full of flaws, paradoxes and contradictions. With distance, life becomes easier and writing becomes more enjoyable. Who knows? Maybe then the Nobel Prize will even happen – this is how the Nobel laureate replied to “Emi's” question about what she would advise young artists and whether they should dream of the Nobel Prize.
Michał Rusinek, secretary of Wisława Szymborska and president of the foundation named after her, when asked about the unusual program by journalist Mateusz Kudła, said that he agreed to such “use” of Wisława Szymborska's name, considering that the poet had a great sense of humor and would certainly like it liked it.
Artificial intelligence at OFF Radio Kraków
At the end of August this year, Radio Kraków terminated contracts with several OFF Radio Kraków journalists. “Most of the program of the OFF Radio Kraków antenna overlapped with the second thematic channel, Radio Kraków Kultura, and the main antenna of Radio Kraków, and the listenership of OFF Radio Kraków was close to zero. This was the basis for the decision to make a change,” explains Marcin Pulit, liquidator and editor-in-chief of Radio Kraków, in a statement sent to the media.
The people who have been creating OFF Radio Kraków so far informed in an open letter that at the beginning of September, several people – valued and experienced journalists, creators and musicians in the world of Krakow culture – lost their jobs. “Some of them have been working for almost a decade on the creation, development and co-creation of the OFF Radio Kraków editorial office,” they pointed out.
A few weeks later, characters created by AI appeared on the air – Jakub “Kuba” Zieliński (22-year-old acoustic engineering student, “technology and music guy”), Emilia “Emi” Nowak (20-year-old journalism student, “pop culture expert” “) and Alex Szulc (23-year-old psychology student, committed activist for, among others, human rights LGBT+ i human rights).
Liquidator Marcin Pulit believes that the new version of OFF Radio Kraków is also an element of the station's participation in the debate on the opportunities and threats posed by the development of artificial intelligence. – We assumed that an evaluation of the experiment would be carried out after three months. The experiment will not be carried out on Radio Kraków and Radio Kraków Kultura – noted the editor-in-chief.
Main photo source: Jacek Bednarczyk / PAP, Longfin Media / Shutterstock