AI avatars protect journalists - 30th September 2024

President Nicolas Maduro says that he won the Venezuelan election. But many people disagree and journalists in Venezuela are at risk. To stay safe, they’re reporting the news with AI avatars.

There have been protests since the election. The government’s arrested over 1,400 people. 23 people have died in the protests. It’s also arrested 16 journalists. 12 of them are still in prison.

Because of this danger, journalists are hiding their faces. They’re using two AI avatars, which are called ‘La Chama’ or ‘the girl’ and ‘El Pana’ or ‘the dude’. The avatars read news reports from over 100 journalists and 20 Venezuelan news organisations. These organisations also check the facts in the reports.

The project’s called Operation Retweet. The avatars provide information on Venezuela’s situation in short videos. These are shared on Facebook and Instagram. Operation Retweet also hides the faces of people in the protests.

The government’s put tough controls on news organisations. They’ve limited paper supplies to newspapers and banned some news websites. They’ve also cancelled TV and radio programmes which disagree with the president.

Operation Retweet’s now started reporting in English. It wants the world to know about this political situation.