In the United States, newsrooms’ adoption of generative AI has fueled concerns that real-life journalists may be pushed to the background. But in Venezuela, according to a recent story published by CNN, using AI to obscure journalists is the goal.
This summer, a group of media organizations launched “Venezuela Retweets,” an AI-anchored news program intended to address the increasingly repressive media environment since the disputed re-election of President Nicholas Maduro in July. Maduro’s subsequent crackdown on freedom of the press has resulted in what the United Nations has called a “climate of fear” and targeted persecution, in which journalists risk detention and arrest for any critical reporting. Since July, at least sixteen journalists, and 1,500 individuals total, have been detained by government forces.
The AI-generated co-anchors of “Venezuela Retweets,” avatars nicknamed “La Chama” (The Girl) and “El Pana” (The Dude) look like journalists and talk like journalists but unlike their real-life counterparts, are safe from intimidation, arrest, and other repressive government tactics. The model for news delivery is simple and accuracy-minded. The news clips La Chama and El Pana read are real, verified, cited, and created by actual journalists and designed to be shared on social media and private messaging apps like WhatsApp, where most Venezuelans get their news due to heavy government censorship of radio, television, and print news.
Programs like “Venezuela Retweets” aren’t bulletproof, say some AI experts like Shelly Palmer, a professor of Advanced Media at Syracuse University. Digital avatars are still often trackable, particularly when used to protect journalists on an individual basis. Even still, those involved with “Venezuela Retweets” report that the program has increased morale in their own newsrooms and attracted attention from journalists and organizations operating in other authoritarian environments.
Read Stefano Pozzebon’s full article on CNN to learn more about how “Venezuela Retweets” is changing Venezuela’s media climate and offering an alternative vision for the role of generative AI in journalism.