By Dylan Bettencourt
- Russian army TV channel Zvezda shows PolitStacker, a weekly AI programme with a digital host and fake videos of Trump and Zelensky.
- Experts warn the show looks like normal propaganda but could be dangerous as it is state-backed and uses deepfake technology.
Russia’s army-owned TV channel Zvezda has started a new show run by artificial intelligence.
The weekly programme is called PolitStacker. It is presented by a digital avatar named ‘Natasha’, based on a real Russian journalist.
In one advert, Natasha says her job is to put “political nonsense” into people’s heads “like candies in a box”. The intro shows sweets wrapped with the faces of Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Each 40-minute episode mixes jokes with fake videos of world leaders. French president Emmanuel Macron is shown in curlers and a pink robe. In another clip, Trump brags he would end the Ukraine war by building a Moscow casino with golden toilets.
Data scientist Kalev Leetaru, who spotted the show, says it looks like normal propaganda. But he warns that a government channel using deepfakes is a dangerous step, 404 Media reported.
Other state media in Russia have also tried AI, including an avatar of philosopher Alexander Dugin. In the US, one news project with AI anchors failed after viewers rejected it.
Pictured above: Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Image source: File
