This TV channel chooses a virtual avatar to present the weather

Since April 3, Jade has been making it rain and shine on the Swiss television channel M Le Média.In charge of the weather reports for the morning show, Jade is not, however, a presenter like the others.And for good reason, it is an avatar created using artificial intelligence.As 20 Minutes explains, M Le Média uses software to “manufacture from scratch” this female avatar.

In the absence of successful candidates, the channel offers its Evelyne Dhél-IA

As we can see in the video above, Jade’s performance is quite impressive.The appearance is successful, the voice is rather warm and even his diction, a little choppy, seems realistic.The avatar even changes outfits and hairstyles, enough to deceive viewers at first glance.Nevertheless, there is still something robotic about looking closer at Jade’s videos.The weather presenter’s face remains frozen, the lack of expression and the movements of her hands reminding us that she is not human.It’s a little reassuring, because we’re getting dangerously close to the notion of ” disturbing valley evoked by Mashahiro Mori from the beginning of the 1970s.

If Jade is entitled to her CDD (or CDI), it is because the Swiss channel has not found the right human candidate.Questioned by 20 minutes, the general manager of the Millennium Media group, Philippe Morax confides that a competition has indeed been set up, but “none of the candidates was selected”.He therefore decided to turn to new technologies, explaining that they are part of his media’s innovation strategy, to “provide our audience with quality content”.Even if M Le Média wants to be cautious, the group does not exclude the use of artificial intelligence “to automate other areas of the business”.For now, we learn that Jade is “in test version since the beginning of April”.

A divisive initiative

Inevitably, the arrival of Jade arouses reactions and raises concerns, especially ethical ones.On its site, M Le Média reacts to the buzz generated by Jade and evokes an innovative concept that “does not steal the place of a human collaborator”.The chain recalls that there is a team of “several media professionals” who works in the background and only a facilitator ” In the flesh “ is still in place. “Our approach is based on respect and responsibility towards our public and our collaborators.We mean the use of AI as a tool for content improvement and production”, specifies Philippe Morax.The Jade presence further opens up the debate on the place of AI and the transparency of its use.