AI Anchors on Kauai: The Future of Local News or a Community Disconnect?

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A Robot Named James Now Occupies My Former Position

The challenge of finding new reporters was always apparent at The Garden Island, the newspaper I previously worked for located on the secluded Hawaiian island of Kauai. Whenever someone departed, filling the vacancy could extend for several months, assuming the position was filled at all.

Last Thursday, it was a pleasant surprise to discover that the newspaper had brought on board two new reporters, though there was something peculiar about them. Broadcasting from a roomy studio with views of an exotic beach, we had James, an Asian gentleman of middle age who seems incapable of blinking, and Rose, a vibrant redhead who finds it challenging to correctly articulate words such as “Hanalei” and “TV.” Their debut on the air was set against a backdrop of energetic music reminiscent of the soundtrack from Challengers. However, their delivery was somewhat unsettling: James' hands were constantly trembling, and the movement of Rose’s lips didn’t always match her spoken words.

When James inquires with Rose regarding the effects of a strike on nearby hotels, Rose merely enumerates the hotels experiencing the strike. Regarding a report on apartment fires, James comments that it highlights the critical need for fire safety precautions, though he does not specify any.

It might have caught your attention that James and Rose aren't actual human journalists. Instead, they are artificial intelligence characters developed by a company from Israel called Caledo, aiming to introduce this technology to numerous local newspapers over the next year.

"Observing someone merely perusing an article isn't interesting," Dina Shatner, who established Caledo alongside her spouse Moti in 2023, comments. "However, witnessing individuals discuss a topic—now that's captivating."

The Caledo platform is capable of transforming multiple pre-written news stories into a "live broadcast" format, showcasing a dialogue between AI characters such as James and Rose, according to Shatner. While there are other entities, such as Channel 1 in Los Angeles, that have started to employ AI figures to narrate pre-written news pieces, this platform is touted as the first of its kind to enable these virtual hosts to engage in interactive discussions with each other. The purpose behind this technology is to afford smaller local news operations the chance to produce live broadcasts, which might have been beyond their reach otherwise. This innovation not only paves the way for integrated advertising prospects but also has the potential to attract new audiences, particularly younger viewers who prefer watching content over reading it.

Feedback on the live streams, attracting views ranging from 1,000 to 3,000, has been overwhelmingly critical. "This isn't it," one viewer remarks, advocating for local journalism. Another simply comments: "Nightmares."

Earlier this year, when Caledo began its search for partners in North America, Shatner notes that The Garden Island swiftly responded, making it the pioneering outlet in the nation to embrace the AI broadcasting technology.

It comes as a surprise to me, considering my time as a reporter there the previous year, when the publication was far from being at the forefront of innovation—their website was notably outdated—and it seemed they weren't financially equipped to undertake such significant investments. With the newspaper sector battling a downturn in advertising earnings, Kauai's oldest and presently its sole daily print newspaper, The Garden Island, had dwindled to just a few reporters. These journalists were responsible for covering the entirety of news on an island home to 73,000 people. Over the years, the newspaper has changed hands among various major media corporations. This includes a recent transaction where Oahu Publications, which owned The Garden Island, was acquired by Carpenter Media Group from Black Press Media. Carpenter Media Group now oversees over a hundred local publications across North America.

Shatner mentions that Caledo is collaborating with additional newspapers from the Carpenter group to introduce AI-powered news segments, tailoring them to align with the unique essence of each publication. Carpenter has not responded to inquiries for comments. In Kauai, Caledo set up a studio that mimics a Hawaiian beach scene and selected an avatar of Asian appearance to mirror the local population, according to Shatner. (Caledo, in some instances, utilizes the facial scans of real reporters to create their digital counterparts, she adds.) Efforts were made to familiarize the AI with the correct pronunciation of Hawaiian language terms, though Shatner notes the AI anchors still had difficulty pronouncing many of the Hawaiian terms correctly in the three episodes observed. For example, Rose mispronounced the widely used Hawaiian term for house, "hale" (correctly said as hah-lay), as "hail."

Caledo asserts that its artificial intelligence technology will not displace journalists since it focuses on tasks that are currently unaddressed. This was evident at TGI, where, during my tenure, video broadcasts were non-existent until James and Rose were introduced. Furthermore, every broadcast is prefaced with a statement clarifying that the presenters are AI, which helps prevent misunderstandings among the audience. Although adopting the platform incurs expenses, the introduction of advertising prospects within the videos is expected to compensate for the program's cost. However, Shatner chose not to reveal the financial details of the program.

The central concern revolves around whether local communities will embrace the advanced technology. Initial responses indicate that viewers in Kauai, for one, may struggle to accept James and Rose as part of their local community. "It's unsettling," shared a local woman who preferred to stay anonymous. "Nobody I know thinks this is a wise move." For Kauai inhabitant Padraic Gallagher, the duration of the show poses a problem. With the constant exchanges between James and Rose, coupled with interruptions for advertisements, the show's runtime often exceeds the time it would take to simply read the news article.

Felix Simon, a scholar from the University of Oxford who has published numerous works on the role of AI in journalism, suggests that the "uncanny valley effect" could influence the adverse reactions of audiences towards artificial intelligences. Moreover, he points out that viewers often develop a sense of trust with their local news anchors, who represent the "face of the news" for them. "There's a personal connection there, and the idea of substituting that with a machine-produced alternative might make some people uncomfortable," Simon explains.

The invasion of artificial intelligence into the realm of journalism is inevitable, regardless of reader preferences. As the sector faces challenges, an increasing number of news outlets are resorting to AI to enhance efficiency, utilizing either their own resources or external services such as Caledo. The use of AI ranges from basic tasks, such as journalists employing ChatGPT for gathering information, to Gannett newspapers incorporating AI-crafted summaries at the beginning of articles. In some scenarios, articles are being entirely produced and disseminated without any human input. At places like Gizmodo, the adoption of AI has even been cited as a reason for additional staff cuts. How this shift will affect the trust readers place in news sources continues to be an unresolved issue.

The challenge of fostering trust between local news organizations and the communities they report on is significant, even without the complication of integrating AI journalists. The dwindling numbers of staff due to layoffs in local newsrooms have made it difficult for them to establish genuine connections with their readers. This predicament is particularly evident in Kauai, where the newspaper often employs editors and journalists from the mainland (including myself), who lack the deep understanding of the island that locals possess. The combination of high living costs and low pay means that many journalists don't remain in the area for long. This creates a vexing cycle. From my perspective, the most viable solution is for these news organizations to invest more in their staff, enabling journalists to develop their careers within the communities they report on.

A previous journalist from Garden Island shared with me that the move towards funding AI-driven news segments over actual reporters seems unsettling. She emphasized that in ethnically diverse neighborhoods, establishing trust requires genuine human effort, which only real people actively engaging in the community can achieve. "Engaging with James, the AI assistant, isn't the same," she mentioned. "He won't be present at local gatherings."

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