AI News Anchors on Serbian TV 'Manipulate and Mislead,' Expert Warns

The use of artificial intelligence-generated news anchors, presented with Serbian names, on the television channel "Hepi" has sparked controversy and accusations of manipulation. Professor Aleksandra Krstić from the Faculty of Political Science told N1 that this practice deliberately misleads viewers by failing to clearly identify the avatars as artificial creations.

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We wouldn't even know they don't exist, until we read the UNS notice warning us that this is not permitted by law. We are consciously put in a manipulative position - our consciousness is manipulated because we are watching something that does not exist, and we do not know that it does not exist

Krstić highlighted that viewers would likely remain unaware that these presenters do not exist if not for an announcement by the Independent Association of Journalists of Serbia (UNS). She emphasized that this situation constitutes a manipulative position, as viewers' awareness is being exploited by presenting non-existent entities as real.

"We wouldn't even know they don't exist, until we read the UNS notice warning us that this is not permitted by law," Krstić said. She recounted needing to re-examine the presenters multiple times to realize they were AI, underscoring the issue given that "Hepi" is a nationally licensed television station.

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Whom do you report the content to? Who do you turn to if you want to say - I am being misled as a viewer. There is no REM Council to make decisions about it, there is no REM institution that will now somehow punish the television that informs citizens in this way

Adding to the concern is the lack of a clear regulatory framework. Krstić pointed out that there is no REM Council to make decisions on such matters, nor any REM institution that can penalize a television station for engaging in this form of informing citizens. She questioned whom viewers should complain to – "Hepi" itself or a body that has been non-existent for a year and a half. Krstić mentioned that while REM's expert services could analyze and provide guidance on media literacy and broadcaster oversight, the final decision rests with the REM Council, which needs to be constituted urgently. She referenced the Law on Electronic Media, which clearly states that viewers cannot be misled according to ethical codes.

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This is one of the more naive forms of manipulation where you have one-way communication - an artificial presenter stands and reads the news, and some million-strong audience is watching. Much more dangerous is what happens behind the scenes - what are the algorithms that create it, what content is collected and distributed from that artificial intelligence side