Associated Incidents
Yamandú Orsi did not grant an interview to the program Santo y Seña of Channel 4 and the journalistic program conducted by Ignacio Álvarez retorted this Sunday night: the candidate of the Broad Front declared in studios, but as a version recreated by artificial intelligence.
The presidential candidate of the Broad Front was placed as a hologram at the program table, and his voice was imitated with artificial intelligence, as can be seen in a video shared by the Santo y Seña networks.
The image of Orsi was placed in front of Andrés Ojeda, candidate of the Colorado Party who attended this Sunday's program as a guest. "Thank you for inviting us", said the imitation of the former mayor of Canelones. Ojeda ironized about the situation: "They have achieved what no one else has achieved, that he comes and speaks."
The move soon escalated into a political event at the request of the Front's own campaign manager, Senator Alejandro Sánchez. "When we live in a world where artificial intelligence can make a person say things that they did not say, with their same voice and same image, we must be very careful," he warned Channel 4 of Paysandú on Saturday.
"We cannot allow negative campaigns and this could be a sign of a dirty campaign 15 days before the elections," lamented Sánchez in advance, who thought that the interview would be "a great damage to democracy."
Another well-known screen figure countered her colleague's statements: "There is no precedent in Uruguay of something so serious and it would be good if this campaign did not generate it either," wrote on her networks the former host of Subrayado, Blanca Rodríguez, second candidate for the Senate for the 609.
The event motivated a call between Sánchez himself and the journalist Álvarez, as El Observador learned. Although the channel will make it clear that the candidate's statements are recreated with artificial intelligence, the Frente Amplio command fears that this content will go viral camouflaged as an interview that was not such.
The channel indicated to El Observador that "everything was clarified" and that they will reproduce the original videos of Orsi to show that his statements are not invented.
Álvarez's defense of Orsi
Days ago, Álvarez accused the Frente Amplio candidate of "being afraid of him." "On August 14, I spoke with Yamandú Orsi and proposed to interview him in 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 just told me that "They have decided not to go"", he wrote on social networks.
Today on Santo y seña: Live one-on-one with Andrés Ojeda. An interview that will give people something to talk about. At 8:30 p.m. on Channel 4. Because everything is known. pic.twitter.com/9DRkaA5Yc0
— ignacio alvarez (@igalvar71) October 13, 2024
"What does the Frente Amplio candidate want to hide from Uruguayans and what is he afraid of? Why do you think an interview could complicate your chances of winning the election?", the communicator said.
A promo for the Santo y Seña program for this Sunday announces an interview with the Colorado Party candidate, Andrés Ojeda, and "Nacho" Álvarez says: "An interview that Orsi did not agree to come to."