Venezuelan Journalists Are Using AI Stand-Ins to Combat Media Crackdown

Journalists in Venezuela are under increased scrutiny amid a shift towards dictatorship under President Nicolás Maduro — but they aren’t giving up. Instead, they’re deploying AI stand-ins to report the news while avoiding the spotlight.

As reported by The Guardian, Venezuelan journalists are becoming increasingly at risk by the Maduro regime. Maduro, who claimed victory in the country’s disputed election four weeks ago, is creating an increasingly authoritarian climate where journalists are feeling at risk for reporting the news.

“The persecution and the growing repression that our colleagues are suffering in Venezuela, where the uncertainty over the safety of doing their job… grows by the minute,” Carlos Eduardo Huertas, the director of Connectas, the Colombia-based journalism platform tells The Guardian, adding that “being on camera is no longer so sensible.”

But these journalists aren’t content to stop their broadcasts. Instead, they’re using a modern 21st-century solution: artificial intelligence. AI presenters are now reading the news and sharing on-the-ground reports of President Maduro’s attacks on political opponents, activists, and the media all while keeping the actual journalist safe from scrutiny.

The AI-generated on-screen talent isn’t trying to hide the fact it’s not real either.

“But before we go on – in case you haven’t noticed – we want to let you know that we aren’t real,” the avatar in the video above, shared on X (formerly Twitter) says before it jumps to the Maduro-focused topics at hand. “In less than two weeks more than 1,000 people have been detained and at least 23 killed during protests.”

The threat to journalists is very real. According to The Guardian, at least nine journalists have been detained in recent weeks and one of them, 26-year-old sports reporter and photographer Paúl León, was taken by police while filming peaceful protests and later accused of terrorism, the Venezuelan journalist’s union, SNTP says.

While certainly not ideal, the AI technology is allowing journalists in the country to continue to share stories that would otherwise never be told. As Huertas says, these people are bravely doing the work “society needs them to.”