AI generated news presenter debuts in Kuwait media

A Kuwaiti media outlet has revealed a virtual news presenter generated using AI, to read online bulletins. Picture of Fedha, the virtual presenter, was released on Twitter as a woman with hair uncovered.

In the tweet posted by the news outlet, Fedha introduces herself in a video, speaking in Arabic. “I’m Fedha, the first presenter in Kuwait who works with artificial intelligence at Kuwait News. What kind of news do you prefer? Let’s hear your opinions,” she says.

Affiliated with The Kuwait Times, Kuwait News was founded in 1961 as the country's first English-language daily. Abdullah Boftain, deputy editor-in-chief for both outlets says that over time, Fedha could adopt the Kuwaiti accent and present news bulletins on the site’s Twitter account.

“Fedha is a popular, old Kuwaiti name that refers to silver … We always imagine robots to be silver and metallic in colour, so we combined the two,” Boftain told The Guardian. The deuputy editor believes Fedha represents everyone in Kuwait.

The 13-second video released generated mixed reactions from everyone on social media, including journalists.