First came the AI actress, now the AI presenter.

In a deliberately provocative move, Channel 4 has broadcast an entire documentary hosted by an artificial intelligence creation.

Will AI Take My Job? examined whether AI could outperform a variety of professionals, including a doctor, fashion photographer, and a lawyer.

But in a twist, which was not disclosed to viewers until the closing moments of the show, Will AI Take My Job? was hosted by an unnamed female presenter generated by a machine.

The stunt is timely given the uneasy industry chatter about Tilly Norwood, an AI actress created by a British company.

Channel 4’s AI anchor was produced by Seraphinne Vallora, an AI marketing agency, for producer Kalel Productions using prompts to create a digital human.

On a large screen, there were telltale signs that the presenter was not the real deal, not least blurring around her mouth as she spoke. The narration was more convincing, however. A smattering of posts about the show on X/Twitter did indentify the presenter as being an AI.

Channel 4, which has a unique remit to take creative risks, said the documentary complied with editorial guidelines on AI, including a duty to be transparent.

At the end of the show, the presenter says: “I’m not real. In a British TV first, I’m actually an AI presenter. Some of you might have guessed. I wasn’t on location reporting this story. My image and voice were generated using AI.”

Louisa Compton, head of news and current affairs at Channel 4, said: “The use of an AI presenter is not something we will be making a habit of at Channel 4 – instead our focus in news and current affairs is on premium, fact checked, duly impartial and trusted journalism – something AI is not capable of doing.

“But this stunt does serve as a useful reminder of just how disruptive AI has the potential to be – and how easy it is to hoodwink audiences with content they have no way of verifying.”

Kalel CEO Nick Parnes said: “It’s been nail-biting to create the AI presenter in time. Ironically, it gets even more economical to go with an AI Presenter over human, weekly. And as the generative AI tech keeps bettering itself, the Presenter gets more and more convincing, daily. That’s good for our film, but maybe not so good for people’s careers.”