Would you place your trust in Pakistan’s inaugural AI-driven newsroom?

Saga Digital AI represents a pioneering AI-driven media outlet established by Amar Guriro, utilizing a range of software and AI-generated content to engage in journalism.
“It felt strange for me to remain with the print media,” Guriro remarked when questioned about his departure from The Independent Urdu to create Saga Digital after a 26-year tenure in print journalism. “Being your own boss and pursuing your own projects is far more rewarding than traditional employment.”

“There was excessive censorship and a significant lack of journalism, which became my primary concern,” Guriro further explained.

Guriro, along with another reporter who requested anonymity to protect their current role in their newsroom, launched Saga Digital AI with Rs4 million from their personal savings.

“I serve as the Chief Editor. In addition to myself, there is a team member responsible for social media, one for AI content generation, and another for video editing,” he stated.

They have engaged approximately 60 reporters and freelancers across seven countries, including Pakistan, Germany, and the United States, to contribute stories. “I would estimate a 40:60 ratio of AI-generated to human-generated content,” Guriro noted.

The five-member team employs 52 distinct software applications, each responsible for generating various elements of their videos. Their content includes 100% human-authored posts, AI-generated individuals providing video explanations based on actual footage, and they have also created AI characters resembling real individuals, with their permission.
One such character is modeled after Soojal, an individual with disabilities who experiences difficulties in speech.
Another individual who has agreed to the use of their likeness is Zulfiqar Qadri, a writer, columnist, and social activist currently affiliated with The Philanthropist.
“We are quite a small team,” Guriro remarked, noting that utilizing AI presenters is more cost-effective than hiring a live person to appear on camera.

When asked about his decision to incorporate AI presenters, Guriro stated, “I have few objections to progress…AI is merely a tool; the quality of output depends on the input it receives.”

Utilizing AI presenters is also more cost-effective than hiring an individual to speak on camera, and he mentioned that they operate with “quite a small team.”

Haroon Rashid, the Managing Editor at The Independent Urdu and former supervisor of Guriro, stated that “a real person can express empathy, humor, and a nuanced comprehension of intricate subjects that AI might find challenging to fully replicate.”

“This connection can foster trust and credibility in the news being delivered,” he remarked. “AI characters offer numerous benefits, including the capacity to present news in a consistent and impartial manner and to convey information in engaging formats. They are also available around the clock without the constraints of human fatigue or bias,” he added.

Farieha Aziz, the Director and Co-Founder of Bolo Bhi, an organization focused on digital rights, expressed that “AI, when beneficial, should be utilized for the more ‘menial’ or time-intensive tasks, such as note-taking or transcription.”

“I still believe that human oversight is crucial, and outsourcing everything for efficiency does not always equate to quality… The more we outsource, the less we cultivate our own skills. When AI summarizes, it diminishes your own absorption, retention, thinking, and processing capabilities, so is that truly beneficial just for output?”

When questioned about the overall application of AI in newsrooms and the ethical concerns that may arise, Guriro remarked, “AI is merely a tool. My calculator is a tool; can it be deemed unethical? If the tool is employed ethically, how can it be considered negative?”

He also clarified that he does not attempt to present AI-generated content as if it were created by a human.

“The potential for error with AI is significant,” Farieha noted, “We witnessed this during the [May] conflict. One instance involved Grok claiming that the image of Rawalpindi stadium being demolished was accurate. It was not.”

Guriro explained that their AI characters only articulate what is contained in their script, “We create the images, compose the script, and they merely read it aloud.”