Television business news channel CNBC Africa is introducing a new newsreader on Friday – and it’s an artificial intelligence-powered avatar.

The avatar, a blend of AI and human likeness, is modelled on Chanel Retief, who works for Africa Business News (ABN), the parent of CNBC Africa.

The channel said the new AI is designed to augment human productivity, not replace it.

The AI newsreader will work in tandem with CNBC Africa’s team of journalists, analysts and anchors to create “a mix of human expertise and technological efficiency”.

The world’s first AI anchor debuted in November 2018 at an internet conference in China.

Modelled on China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency’s Zhang Zhao, the new anchor learns from live videos and is able to work 24 hours a day, reporting via social media and on the Xinhua website.

Watch CNBC’s AI anchor in the video above — the AI newsreader is on from the one-minute, 2o-second mark.  – © 2023 NewsCentral Media