On Oct. 22, three new voices were heard on OFF Radio Kraków: Emi, Kuba, and Alex — but they are all “virtual characters” created with AI tools.
While the relaunch was highlighted on the station website as part of “the debate on the opportunities and threats that the development of artificial intelligence brings,” it sparked a backlash led by former presenters on the station.
In an open letter to Poland’s National Broadcasting Council and Media Ethics Council, Mateusz Demski, who hosted a program on OFF for three years, alleged that the AI voices had replaced “a dozen or so people … journalists, artists, musicians.” A petition launched by Demski alongside the letter had nearly 20,700 signatures (as of Oct. 24) calling for a return to human presenters.
In OFF Radio Kraków’s announcement, station Editor-in-Chief Marcin Pulit stated that the new voices are designed as “model representatives of the so-called Generation Z” and that the characters were designed and trained by journalists who also check and verify the AI-generated scripts. AI suggestions are also use to program the station’s musical selections.
“It is worth emphasizing once again that AI tools are just that — tools. In this case, they only fulfill their function because they are used by live journalists. We are testing the capabilities and limitations of this technology at the current stage of its development,” Pulit stated. He also stated that the use of AI would be clearly disclosed.
Currently, the project is envisioned as being time limited and will be evaluated in three months.
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In his open letter, Demski criticized Pulit for not acknowledging that the new AI presenters were relacing humans and he raised concerns about how AI presenters would change journalism and entertainment.
“The case of OFF Radio Kraków is an important reminder for the entire industry. … It is opening the door to a world in which experienced employees in the media sector and creative industries will be replaced by machines,” Demski wrote.
In a statement published by Gazeta Krakowska, Pulit disputed some of Demski’s claims, noting that the prior presenters were external contractors, not Radio Kraków staff. He also justified the relaunch on OFF Radio Kraków’s poor listenership figures.
He stated that the relaunch with a focus on 18- to 26-year-old listeners was designed to reduce overlap between the station and its sister channel Radio Kraków Kultura and to draw in new listeners. “The idea of conducting a radio experiment with artificial intelligence tools during the transition period came up on the side,” Pulit stated.
OFF is a thematic channel of the private broadcaster and is heard across Poland via streaming and on DAB multiplexes in Kraków, Tarnów, Szczawnica, Zakopane, and Rabka.
