Odisha Gets Its First AI News Anchor ‘Lisa’

Bhubaneswar: A private satellite news channel launched the first virtual news presenter created using artificial intelligence (AI), Lisa, in regional television broadcasting arena in Odisha at a ceremony held in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

The AI-powered news anchor, clad in a Odisha handloom saree, will present news in Odia and English for OTV Network’s television and digital platforms.

Speaking on the occasion, OTV Managing Director Jagi Mangat Panda said the channel has set another milestone in television journalism by introducing Odisha’s first Artificial Intelligence news anchor. “AI will help us do the job that is repetitive and are more data analytical,” she added.

OTV’s Digital Business Head Litisha Mangat Panda said that developing this technology was an exhaustive process and a huge team effort. “It is not as fluent as you, but it is much more fluent than what Google Translate could offer you,” she said.

“Lisa harnesses the power of AI and LLM to deliver news with precision and efficiency. Combining groundbreaking machine learning algorithms with a life-like virtual presenter, Lisa will strive to be the perfect synthesis of technology and journalistic excellence. As we embrace this transformation, we will do so responsibly and inclusively while ensuring fairness and transparency,” she added.

In March, Kalli Purie, Vice-Chairperson of India Today, launched Aaj Tak’s and India’s first AI anchor Sana during the 20th edition of  its conclave. Besides raising eyebrows, it also sparked discussions about whether India has entered a new era of news broadcasting with a computer-generated avatar powered by AI.

The following month, ‘Fedha’ made its debut on the Twitter handle of Kuwait News, a website affiliated with the Kuwait Times.

Notably, China’s Xinhua news agency created the world’s first AI-powered male news anchor, combining the images and voices of human anchors with AI technology, in 2018. Ren Xiaorong, an AI-powered host of an app, allowed users to ask questions related to the two sessions, the annual plenary sessions of the National People’s Congress and of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference held in March this year, according to reports.