Associated Incidents
The expression “stone guest” is part of the title of the play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra, attributed to the Spanish playwright Tirso de Molina, one of the most prolific writers of the Spanish Golden Age.
Over the years, the phrase crept into the Spanish language as a way of referring to an uncomfortable or marginalized guest, out of place or without a voice at a party or meeting.
Such was the role played last night in the absence of the Frente Amplio candidate Yamandú Orsi on the TV program Santo y seña, broadcast by Channel 4.
In light of Orsi's decision not to appear on the program, its producers made an unprecedented decision in Uruguay that generated alarm and controversy: using artificial intelligence (AI) to create a virtual image of the politician and seating him in the channel's studio next to the Colorado candidate Andrés Ojeda, the latter in the flesh.
Ignacio Álvarez, the host of the program, had expressed himself days ago on social networks about Orsi's refusal to participate in Santo y seña.
“On August 14, I spoke with Yamandú Orsi and proposed to interview him on Santo y seña when it suited him. He told me that he would talk to his team and call me. Since September 7, I sent him messages and audios that he never answered, so last week I contacted Fernando Pereira, who promised to give me an answer; until after insisting on several other occasions, he kindly told me that 'They have decided not to go'”, he wrote on X, a network in which he assured that the former mayor of Canelones was “afraid” of him.
ORSI (IS) AFRAID OF ME On August 14, I spoke with Yamandú Orsi and proposed to interview him on Santo y seña when it suited him. He told me that he talked to his team and called me. Since September 7, I sent him messages and audios that he never answered, so the week…
— ignacio alvarez (@igalvar71) October 3, 2024
“What does the Frente Amplio candidate want to hide from Uruguayans and what is he afraid of? Why does he think that an interview can complicate his chances of winning the election?”.
Faced with Orsi's decision, the reaction of the program's production was to appeal to artificial intelligence. Hours before the program was broadcast, the idea reached the ears of figures from the Frente Amplio, who expressed concern about it.
“We are very concerned at the end of this campaign because we have received some information that an interview with Yamandú Orsi could be being conducted using artificial intelligence. In other words, a false interview. We warn the population to be very careful,” said Alejandro Pacha Sánchez, MPP legislator and Orsi's campaign manager, on Saturday in statements to Canal 4 in Paysandú.
“When we live in a world where artificial intelligence can make a person say things that they did not say, with their own voice and same image, we have to be very careful,” said Sánchez. “We cannot allow negative campaigns and this could be a sign of a dirty campaign 15 days before the elections. Therefore, we are denouncing that if such an interview existed, of course it would be a great damage to democracy,” he said.
Another of the voices that were raised against the initiative of Santo y seña was that of Blanca Rodríguez, former presenter of the Canal 10 news program and current candidate for senator for the FA.
“There is no precedent in Uruguay of something so serious and it would be good if this campaign did not generate it either,” he wrote in X.
There is no precedent in Uruguay of something so serious and it would be good if this campaign did not generate it either. https://t.co/r9FtqrAiFx
— Blanca Rodriguez - Daughter of immigrants. (@blancarodgon) October 13, 2024
Before the broadcast of the program, the production told the newspaper El Observador that “everything was clarified” with the Frente Amplio, and that Orsi's speeches used to create the AI model were reproduced as a way of showing that it was not an invention. Furthermore, as was later seen in the program, the virtual image of the FA candidate was accompanied by a caption clarifying that it was a creation made by AI.
Obviously, beyond how true the raw material used to create a virtual Yamandú Orsi might be, that result could never be equivalent to the authentic presence of the person imitated by technology.
Strictly speaking, the participation of the “false Orsi” was brief and limited, and was what in the TV environment is known as a “talking head” that was limited to saying a few basic phrases.
Unusual! Yamandú Orsi appeared in #SantoYSeña and was ready to debate with Andrés Ojeda. This is how the meeting in the Canal 4 studio went. pic.twitter.com/il3TcYUKW7
— Santo y Seña (@santotv4) October 14, 2024
Orsi in Santo y Seña. ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Orsi is clear as always.... pic.twitter.com/XWtkZkdRdJ
— Efrain, Rock & Roll (@efrain_rock) October 14, 2024
Likewise, the use of AI was not without flaws, as was proven when Orsi's figure seemed to "levitate" in miniature over Andrés Ojeda's image.
Beyond the brief intervention of the virtual double of the FA candidate, the use of this imitation did not fail to generate distrust, and the fact that he used it in the context of an interview with another candidate was also pointed out. For example, the teacher Gastón Bica, a member of Alternativa FA, considered that generating this false counterpoint between Ojeda and Orsi favored the former.
The use of AI in Santo y Seña is to harm Orsi. ??Here it is not in question whether they were going to alter Orsi's words or not. In itself, using it in a different context than the original represents a malicious alteration.
But there is something even worse... (Continues). pic.twitter.com/BaR4Bf7uD7
— Gastón Bica Falcón (@GBica1987) October 14, 2024
In fact, Ojeda was quick to react to the virtual presence of his opponent. “You have achieved what no one else has: that he comes and talks,” he said to Álvarez in an ironic tone.