TV and AI - Linda Zervakis was chatting with her avatar - "silent"
TV Presenter Linda Zervakis (49) has made history by communicating with her own avatar for the first time during the filming of a ProSieben reportage on Artificial Intelligence (AI). "At first, I was quite skeptical. It's completely different from being on TV where I see myself on the screen too," Zervakis told the German Press Agency in Hamburg about her encounter with her artificial internet double. She added, "I was initially speechless. But then it was like meeting someone where it doesn't quite click at first - and you decide to give them another chance."
ProSieben Reportage
During the encounter, Zervakis approached the AI avatar named KI-Linda. And by the end, she even felt a sense of triumph. "Okay, she's there - but you can also turn her off. You can't turn me off. And what she (KI-Linda) currently lacks, despite all the similarities, is emotion - which is noticeable," said the former "Tagesschau" newsreader, who has been working for ProSieben since 2021.
In her first major "ProSieben.Thema" reportage "Can AI Save Democracy?", Zervakis will be seen together with KI-Linda on Tuesday, August 20, at 8:15 PM. Before the filming, the avatar was fed with her news and everyday language, which the AI processes and becomes more like the presenter over time.
In her upcoming "ProSieben.Thema" reportage, Linda Zervakis will be interacting with her AI avatar KI-Linda in Germany, exploring the potential of AI in saving democracy. Despite the advancements in AI, Zervakis pointed out during a press conference in Germany, that KI-Linda still lacks the ability to express emotion, which is a distinct characteristic of human presence in media.
