OTV launches Odisha's first Artificial Intelligence news anchor ‘Lisa’ 

OTV, Odisha's first private satellite news channel that has set several new milestones, launched the State's first Artificial Intelligence (AI) news anchor at a ceremony held in Bhubaneswar on Sunday. 

While introducing the news anchor Lisa, Odisha Television Limited (OTV)’s Managing Director Jagi Mangat Panda said, “There was a time when a computer used to be an astonishing thing. But the time has changed and nowadays, people are spending more time on the internet. Therefore, keeping pace with the time, OTV, which successfully completed 25 years in television journalism, has set another milestone by introducing Odisha’s first Artificial Intelligence news anchor." 

"The use of AI has just begun in television broadcasting and for that reason, AI news anchor Lisa is all set to create many new milestones. Lisa is the first AI anchor in the free-to-air regional television broadcasting arena. Similarly, Lisa is also the first Odia news anchor," she added.

“We started our journey of launching Odisha Television Limited way back in 1997. At that point, we were very clear about our objective. Many decades have passed but we have continued to keep that objective in mind which was actually enforced through our charter at OTV. And at the same time, year after year, OTV has managed to remain the number one channel in Odisha continuously for the last 26 years,” Panda said.

“Today our viewers have also evolved. They are not interested in the quantity of news we are providing. They are interested to find certain angles or answers in certain stories that OTV may provide them. In doing so, I believe, AI is going to be a great partner in helping us facilitate the same objective of being able to do the job that is repetitive and are more data analytical,” she added.

Speaking on the occasion, OTV’s Digital Business Head Litisha Mangat Panda said, “It has been a very exhaustive and big experience in developing this technology. Even Google doesn’t translate Odia to English properly. It has been a huge team effort and today we have been able to do that. Of course, it is not as fluent as you, but it is much more fluent than what Google Translate could offer you. Odisha Television has always been the pioneer in the Indian media landscape from being the first cable channel to the first broadcast channel and venturing into the digital space.”

“Being the number one channel, not only on broadcast but also on digital space in Odisha, I am privileged to be a part of this transformative milestone with OTV and to be introducing not only Odisha’s but India’s first AI Odia anchor. This is a groundbreaking development in news delivery,” she said.

“Lisa harnesses the power of AI and LLM to deliver news with precision and efficiency. Combining groundbreaking machine learning algorithms with a life-like virtual presenter, Lisa will strive to be the perfect synthesis of technology and journalistic excellence. As we embrace this transformation, we will do so responsibly and inclusively while ensuring fairness and transparency,” she added. 

“With the introduction of Lisa, OTV strives to provide the best and the latest cutting-edge technology solutions for audiences’ evolving needs and aims to revolutionize the way news is presented and consumed,” she further added. 

In terms of potential, though Lisa has the capability to speak in many languages, for the time being, she will only present news in Odia and English for OTV Network's television and digital platforms. Efforts are underway to make Lisa more proficient in Odia in the coming days.

Lisa can be found on all the prominent social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, among others.