Meet Natcha and Nitchan: Thailand’s first AI news reporters (video)

Thailand’s first artificial intelligence (AI) reporters were unveiled today by the Thai news television channel Nation TV. The two AI-generated reporters will make their TV debut on Monday, April 1.

Nation TV Managing Director Apirawee Pichayadecha introduced the two AI reporters to the public today. The female AI reporter goes by the name Natcha while the male reporter is called Nitchan.

Natcha will deliver news reports as part of the Nation News Alert program starting April 1. However, the appearance of the male AI reporter Nitchan has not yet been revealed.

Apirawee revealed that the two reporters will be the first pair of AI-generated reporters in Thailand. She explained that Nation TV drew inspiration from various businesses that have successfully implemented AI technology, particularly TV news channels in China and India.

Overseas news agencies use AI technology to expedite the processing and analysis of data, thereby enhancing efficiency and comprehensiveness. This, in turn, guarantees the provision of precise information to audiences.

Apirawee highlighted that Nation TV recognised an opportunity to augment the capabilities of their reporters by integrating two AI staff members.

Additionally, Apirawee suggested that the AI-generated reporters could fulfil roles as social media influencers, event hosts, virtual conference moderators, and brand ambassadors for Nation TV.

According to Apirawee, the news reading process will be facilitated by automated audio descriptions, ensuring that the AI reporters maintain a natural delivery similar to human news reporters. She ensured that this technology would give audiences new experiences of watching news programmes.

Prior to the introduction of AI reporters, Thailand had already seen the emergence of several virtual social media influencers and brand ambassadors.

For example, a 17 year old non-binary virtual influencer named Bangkok is the very first AI-generated influencer in Thailand while a 21 year old AI woman named Ailynn is a brand ambassador for a popular mobile service provider, AIS.

Furthermore, 22 year old virtual woman Katie, was created by media and advertising company Plan B Media and Lemonz Bangkok. Katie has been featured on magazine covers and advertisements alongside Thai celebrities.

Additionally, Thailand also has an AI monk, 30 year old Phra Maha AI, who was created to spread Buddhist doctrine to Thai netizens, especially teenagers.