Polish Radio Station Replaces Journalists With 'AI Presenters'

A radio station in Poland has landed in controversy after reportedly dismissing its journalists and relaunching this week with AI-generated “presenters.” New programmes of the OFF Radio Krakow, a station situated in the southern city of Krakow, will be hosted by three AI presenters. However, staff who previously worked on the station have criticised the move. 

The change got nationwide attention after Mateusz Demski, a journalist who until recently hosted a show on the station, published an open letter protesting “the replacement of employees with artificial intelligence.” Demski worked at OFF Radio Krakow from February 2022 until August, when he was among about a dozen journalists who were let go, reported the Associated Press. At the same time, station head Marcin Pulit stated that no journalists were fired due to AI but because its listenership “was close to zero.”

“It is a dangerous precedent that hits us all,” the journalist wrote in the letter. At the same time, Krzysztof Gawkowski, the minister of digital affairs and a deputy prime minister, said that he had read Demski’s appeal and that legislation is needed to regulate AI. "Although I am a fan of AI development, I believe that certain boundaries are being crossed more and more," said the minister in a post on X.