Uzbekistan National News Agency, an official news agency that distributes the latest news and socio-political information about Uzbekistan and the world, always looks for ways to improve its work, use modern technologies, and introduce new styles and formats to the media. The goal is to provide readers with fast, unbiased, and reliable information.
It’s no secret that AI has been developing rapidly in recent years. Today, almost every industry uses AI’s capabilities and support. The Uzbekistan National News Agency, keeping up with the times, embarked on a groundbreaking project to create a special AI reporter named Sobira Kholdorova.
This reporter delivers official information and breaking news in nine languages (Uzbek, English, Russian, French, Arabic, Chinese, German, Spanish, and Kazakh).
The AI, launched in test mode, is a promising tool that is gradually expanding the scope of video reporting.
<iframe width="640" height="420" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TtVkrBxw2tE" title="OʻzA sunʼiy intellekt yordamida robot-muxbir yaratdi" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>Information security measures
Of course, creating AI video reports is a great opportunity, but it also creates risks. Malicious people can make videos based on lies and fake news and distribute them online. Therefore, if fake videos are distributed on behalf of the Uzbekistan National News Agency, it will be possible to verify their authenticity. For this, a special QR code is placed on each video, and by activating the link in this QR code, it will be possible to read the text of the same video on the UzA official website. If the AI video does not have a QR code or the link does not point to UzA’s website, it is a fake video.
Who is Sobira Kholdorova?
The reporter is named Sobira Kholdorova because she was the first professional female journalist in Central Asia and Uzbekistan.
Sobira Kholdorova was born in 1907 in Chust city of Namangan region to a poor peasant family. In 1923, she came to Tashkent and studied at the Women’s Educational Institute for two years. Later, she studied at the Higher Institute of Journalism in Moscow.
After returning to Tashkent, she worked in the editorial offices of several newspapers and magazines. In 1937, she was imprisoned on charges of “communicating with bourgeois elements, losing consciousness”. On December 5, 1940, she was exiled to Yakutia for ten years. Sobira Kholdorova’s husband, Mumin Usmanov, was shot on October 4, 1938. After the court verdict on exile, her children Polat and Manzura were transferred to the orphanage.
Sobira Kholdorova, who returned from prison in 1955, died in 1984. Her son Polat Usmanov returned from the Second World War wounded. Her daughter, Manzura Usmanova, is a doctor of physics and mathematics.
The purpose of naming the AI-generated reporter Sobira Kholdorova is to restore the bright memory of the first Uzbek female journalist who was a victim of repression.
Journalist Dildora Abdukhalilova’s prototype was used to create the AI-generated reporter.