Journalists in Venezuela have been forced to be creative with how they distribute news in their home country, amid a government crackdown on reporters.
To solve this issue, journalists have turned to A.I. reporters to take their place and provide the news.For one Venezuelan journalist group who calls themselves “Venezuela Retweet,” if they continue to report on any partisan matters it would be a job too dangerous to delegate to human reporters. Due to the continual duress of threat of jail by their national government, Venezuela Retweet has entrusted A.I. journalists to share important news that would otherwise go unreported.
“Right now, being a journalist in Venezuela is a bit like being a firefighter,” Carlos Eduardo Huertas, the creator of Venezuela Retweet, said.
Venezuela Retweet has utilized two different A.I. personas to relay important news. The two personas, La chama (The Girl) and El pana (The Man), are convincingly realistic and cover information regarding the current oppression, violence, and turmoil in Venezuela. While the images of the reporters are generated artificially, the news they report, as well as the scripts used are made by real individuals.
“Although we were generated by AI, our content is real, verified, of high quality, and created by journalists,” The Man said.
The dangers that journalists have faced at the hands of the Venezuelan government can range as far as imprisonment. One journalist, Carmela Longo, spent time in jail under terrorism charges. She eventually was released, but is still unable to leave the country or report on her situation.