Key Points:
Aaj Tak introduced India’s first AI news anchor, Sana, in 2023. She is a multilingual virtual host
In her conversation with Smita Prakash, Kalli Purie, emphasized that AI enhances efficiency but still requires human supervision to ensure accuracy.
Aaj Tak’s AI anchor Sana won the 2024 Global Media Award from INMA for transforming the newsroom.
With the rising integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in several sectors, AI has finally found its way into the Indian newsroom. In the most recent episode of the podcast with Smita Prakash, the host welcomed the Vice Chairperson and Editor-in-Chief of the India Today Group, Kalli Purie, to the show. The episode covered a variety of topics, including the brand’s successful attempts to use the latest technology in the newsroom.
Aaj Tak, one of the leading media channels of India, launched over two decades ago, has built a strong reputation among Indian households. Its latest AI revelation became the new talk of the town when Aaj Tak introduced India’s first AI anchor back in 2023.
During their conversation, they talked about Aaj Tak’s popular AI anchor Sana appeared as a stunning virtual host who speaks multiple languages and has proved her value as an asset in the newsroom. Smita Prakash talked about the new AI anchor of Aaj Tak, Sana, and joked that she is causing relationship issues for some people.
Smita asked Kalli Purie whether people “laughed” at the beginning of the idea’s inception of creating an AI news anchor.
Kalli Purie responded that most people felt quite excited after hearing the idea of an AI news anchor, except for a few. She further shared the two-year journey of Sana with Aaj Tak. She said, “When we created her (Sana) two years ago, it was so amazing of what we could do.”
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According to Purie, the AI model has improved a lot since its introduction and is “getting better and better and better.” Purie added that, over the course of time, it has become “faster and easier to do things with her (Sana).”
Purie then talked about other AI ventures like Shwetha 2.0 and Anjana 2.0, which are AI anchors modelled on human anchors Shwetha Singh and Anjana Om Kashyap. Purie shared that when a new technology arrives in the market, it is better to adopt it as soon as it arrives. She said,
When you get a new technology, you jump in, feed first. Swim hoga toh swim hoga, otherwise you would sink, dekhi jaega (we will see).Kalli Purie
She shared that AI news anchor Sana started as an experiment, and with constant updates, she learns something new. She promised that the new updated version of AI news anchor Sana is going to look even better.
Talking about AI, Smita asked whether it is advisable to involve AI in the field of journalism. She spoke about how many journalists worry about AI taking away their jobs. Kalli answered that this may happen in the future, but right now AI has not taken away any jobs. She explained that, in current times, a human editor supervises AI in the newsrooms.
“Right now, Sana has a human surrogate editor,” shared Purie in the ANI podcast. She further added that a human has to supervise and review everything that AI does in order to avoid any errors. She said that, on the other hand, AI has increased the workload for humans because AI can process unlimited data at the same time, but it has to be thoroughly checked to avoid any discrepancies.
Kalli expressed that she pushes her team to dig deep into AI and employ AI-created images in television. She highlighted the advantages of AI in the newsroom and explained how it can be used in many ways to improve efficiency, such as in graphics.
Aaj Tak’s popular AI news anchor Sana won the 2024 Global Media Award from the International News Media Association (INMA) for transforming the newsroom with the integration of Artificial Intelligence. The International News Media Association also recognized the India Today Group as the best media conglomerate in South Asia for its “AI-led newsroom” initiatives.
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