AI anchors protect media personnel amid Venezuelan government crackdown

Maria Paula Laguna

One of Venezuela's newest news anchors sits on a stool, dressed in a flannel shirt and chinos as he delivers the day's headlines.

He goes by "El Pana," Venezuelan slang for "friend." Only, he's not real.

El Pana, and his colleague "La Chama," or "The Girl," are generated using artificial intelligence, though they look, sound and move realistically.

They were created as part of an initiative dubbed "Operation Retweet" by Colombia-based organization Connectas, led by director Carlos Huertas, to publish news from a dozen independent media outlets in Venezuela and in the process protect reporters as the government has launched a crackdown on journalists and protesters.

"We decided to use artificial intelligence to be the 'face' of the information we're publishing," Huertas said in an interview, "because our colleagues who are still out doing their jobs are facing much more risk."

At least 10 journalists have been arrested since mid-June and eight remain imprisoned on charges including terrorism, according to Reporters Without Borders.

"Here, using artificial intelligence is... almost like a mix between technology and journalism," Huertas said, explaining the project looked to "circumvent the persecution and increasing repression" from the government as there would be no one who could face arrest.

The country's opposition and human rights groups have said recent arrests of protesters, opposition figures and journalists are part of a government crackdown meant to quiet a sometimes violent, month-long election dispute.

Venezuela's communications ministry did not respond to a request for comment about the AI journalism initiative. No official has responded to repeated requests for comment by Reuters about the arrests of journalists in recent weeks.

Both the opposition and President Nicolas Maduro claim victory in the July 28 election.

Maduro, in power since 2013, is backed by the supreme court and the electoral authority, which has not published full vote tallies because of what it says was a cyber-attack.

The opposition has shared what it says are more than 80 per cent of vote tallies, showing a resounding win for its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.

Some international observers and many Western countries have said election conditions were unfair and demanded full tallies.

Protests since the vote have led to at least 27 deaths and 2,400 arrests, and detentions of opposition figures and protesters have continued as part of the government's "Operation Knock Knock."

Maduro and his administration have called protesters fascists and said they are inciting hate at the behest of countries like the United States, which Washington denies.

 - Reuters