Odisha Television Launches ‘Lisa’, the State’s First Artificial Intelligence News Presenter

On Sunday, in Bhubaneswar, OTV, a privately-owned satellite news channel, made a noteworthy debut in Odisha’s regional television broadcasting industry by introducing Lisa, the state’s inaugural virtual news presenter, developed through artificial intelligence (AI).

The AI-powered news anchor, clad in a stunning Odisha armband, will deliver news in both Odia and English across OTV Network’s television and digital platforms. OTV CEO Jagi Mangat Panda expressed during the event that he was excited about the channel’s latest achievement in television journalism. He stated, “With the introduction of Odisha’s first AI news anchor, we have set a new milestone. AI helps us perform repetitive tasks and analyze huge amounts of data.”

Litisha Mangat Panda, Head of Digital Business at OTV, highlighted the extensive and collaborative work involved in developing this ground-breaking technology. He acknowledged that while an AI news anchor may not be as smooth as a human presenter, it surpasses the capabilities of platforms like Google Translate. Panda added, “Lisa harnesses the power of artificial intelligence and LLM to deliver news accurately and efficiently. By combining state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms with a lifelike virtual presenter, Lisa aims to be the perfect combination of technology and journalistic excellence. As we embrace this, we are committed to responsible and inclusive practices that ensure fairness and transparency.” “

Previously published AI News Anchors

The introduction of artificial intelligence news anchors has sparked debates in India in the past. India Today Vice President Kalli Purie launched Sana, Aaj Tak’s first artificial intelligence anchor, in March, sparking both curiosity and debate about the appearance of computer-generated avatars in newscasts. Afterward, “Fedha” debuted on Twitter for Kuwait News, which is affiliated with the Kuwait Times, the following month.

It is worth noting that China’s Xinhua News Agency pioneered the creation of the world’s first AI-powered male news anchor in 2018. By combining AI technology with the images and voices of human anchors, they created a seamless virtual presenter. In addition, Ren Xiaorong, an AI-powered host, allowed users to ask questions related to the annual plenary sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference held in March this year.