Jeju Government’s Newly-Hired News Presenter Sparks Debate Online
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![Jeju-1.jpg](https://img.koreaboo.com/tr:n-thumb_feed/2024/03/Jeju-1.jpg)
The Jeju provincial government recently hired a new female news anchor to conduct its weekly YouTube program, but netizens are not happy about it.
The presenter appeared on a video broadcast on Friday, March 8, and introduced herself as J-na. She mentioned that she will be delivering policy updates and local news from the island moving forward.
Though J-na appeared to meet all the standard expectations of a news presenter, the reason behind netizens’ disapproval of her is the fact that she is not a real person but an AI-programmed avatar. The Jeju provincial government pays ₩600,000 KRW (about $457 USD) a month to a private contractor company that developed the program and is in charge of its maintenance.
A Jeju official clarified that the decision to “hire” an AI-based news presenter was primarily driven by the aim of cost-cutting.
Employing human news presenters incurs significant costs, so we sought an alternative and opted for J-na.
— An official from Jeju provincial government
The name J-Na is derived from the initial letter of the following words, “Jeju,” “News,” and “AI.”
J-Na’s first on-screen appearance on March 8 saw her in a blue dress, reading the news and even swaying slightly back and forth, seemingly to appear more human-like. However, at the corner of the screen, a real human sign language expert was seen offering a real-time interpretation of the news presented by her.
[Video could not be displayed]
When the news surfaced online, many netizens voiced their distaste for the government replacing human jobs with AI for cost reduction when South Korea is already battling unemployment.
However, J-Na is not the first AI-made news presenter in South Korea. In 2020, MBN became the first local broadcaster to unveil an AI presenter modeled after a real human presenter, Kim Joo Ha. The AI broadcaster still appears on daily programs along with her human counterpart.
![download (6)](https://img.koreaboo.com/tr:n-lg/2024/03/download-6.jpeg)
Last year, SBS also appointed an AI-powered virtual presenter, Zae In, for its current affairs program Morning Wide Part 3.
![download (4)](https://img.koreaboo.com/tr:n-lg/2024/03/download-4.jpeg)
YTN also joined in last September and introduced Y-Go and Y-On, male and female AI news presenters, respectively.
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