video. The rise of the AI-generated news presenter in Kuwait

Communication trick or media innovation? On Saturday, April 8, a Kuwaiti media presenter presented a virtual journalist born with artificial intelligence, with the ambition of assigning her to present a news newspaper in the Gulf country.

Dressed in a white T-shirt and a black jacket, Fidaa appeared on the Twitter account of the Kuwait News website as part of a project that is still in the testing phase. “I am Fida, Kuwait’s first AI-powered broadcaster on Kuwait News. What kind of news do you prefer? Let’s hear your opinions.”She said in classical Arabic.

affiliated to Kuwait Timesthe first daily English-language newspaper in the Gulf founded in 1961, this site wants to test the capabilities of artificial intelligence offered by Fresh and innovative contentexplains its deputy editor-in-chief Abdullah Beftin. According to him, the broadcaster can in the future adopt the Kuwaiti dialect and present a news bulletin on the Kuwait News Twitter account, followed by more than 1.2 million subscribers.

“Fada is a popular old Kuwaiti name that refers to silver and metal. We always imagine robots in silver and metallic, so we combined the two.”Abdullah Beftin says. As for the presenter’s physical appearance, blond with light eyes, it reflects, according to him, the diversity of the population in this rich oil country, consisting of Kuwaitis and expatriates. “Fada represents everyone”He says.