A.I. Takes Over the Airwaves: Polish Radio's Bold Experiment

Tue Oct 21 2025 02:24:05 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

A Polish radio station stirs controversy by using AI to interview a long-deceased poet, leading to an outcry over the implications of technology in media.

The decision of Off Radio Krakow to generate an AI interview with Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska raises questions about the role of technology in broadcasting and the ethics of using deceased figures for entertainment.

In a stunning example of technology's reach, Off Radio Krakow fired its human presenters to explore the thrilling and controversial frontier of using artificial intelligence. The unexpected twist? The station aired a computer-generated interview with Wislawa Szymborska, the Nobel Prize-winning poet who passed away in 2012.

The move sparked outrage as listeners were shocked to hear a "first-of-its-kind" interview with someone who has been deceased for over a decade, courtesy of A.I. Despite the impressive replication of Szymborska's unique voice, former host Lukasz Zaleski condemned the practice. He had long desired to invite the beloved poet to his show, but, of course, she was not available.

The head of public radio in Krakow aimed to revive the station's dwindling listener numbers by pushing boundaries, but the backlash highlighted a growing unease about technology stepping into roles traditionally held by humans. As media evolves, the ethical ramifications of such innovations remain an open debate—especially when it involves figures who can no longer speak for themselves.