Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Are you a fan of AI narration? Do you listen to podcasts or watch videos in which an AI voice speaks to you from the void? The monotonous voices may sound wooden, but they can also be calming, as numerous AI sleep podcasts show.
In the canton of Schaffhausen, there is a new radio station where the news and contributions are presented exclusively by an AI presenter.
Warm greetings from Bern
Radio without presenters? The new ‘Radio Schaffhuuse’ does not require a radio studio and relies entirely on AI moderation.
Have you ever listened to an AI voice and thought it sounded like a human – but not quite? In the canton of Schaffhausen, this voice now comes from the radio. The entire moderation of the new Radio Schaffhuuse is taken over by AI. Is this the future of radio?
Project manager Lara Gansser from Radio Schaffhuuse says in the SRF report that all news and contributions are written by people, who also determine the broadcast schedule. The editors voted to select the AI voice. Radio Schaffhuuse is a supplement to the Schaffhauser Bock newspaper and the online portal Schaffhausen 24, where the news comes from. In this way, content is to be played out on as many channels as possible and financed by advertising.
An expert from SRF does not believe that the AI radio voice will prevail. “It is quite possible that the standard will rise and we will see more of it,” he says. But he does not see a great demand. At the moment, AI moderation is still clearly recognisable as such. It sounds mechanical, a bit bumpy and has trouble with the correct pronunciation of community names and those of politicians.
The Young Liberals want to tighten Swiss asylum policy. In a new position paper, they call for asylum procedures in third countries to the abolition of provisional admission.
In recent days, tens of thousands of migrants have reached the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on the North African coast. Now the Young Liberals have presented a position paper in which they call for a more restrictive Swiss asylum policy. Ceuta is an obvious, but not the only signal that a rethink is essential, the NZZ quotes from the list of demands.
Among other things, the youth party proposes to partially outsource asylum procedures to safe third countries, to reject asylum seekers without a need for protection and to abolish provisional admission. In addition, tougher sanctions are demanded against countries of origin that do not take back rejected asylum seekers and against cantons that do not adequately enforce deportations.
With the position paper, the Young Liberals want to increase the pressure on the Radical-Liberal Party and the Centre Party, which have acknowledged the need for reform after the vote on the “No to 10 million’ immigration initiative”, but have not yet presented any comprehensive proposals.
A Swiss geologist has been kidnapped and killed in the Central African Republic. He had spent most of his professional life abroad, searching for rare minerals.
Last Thursday, the Swiss geologist Luca M. was kidnapped and killed in Central African Republic, north of the capital Bangui, as Blick writes today referring to the AP news agency. The man from Ticino was kidnapped last Thursday evening by unknown persons, as another geologist reports. A local miner was also killed. According to the witness, Luca worked with Admog Gold, an Emirati company operating in Central Africa.
Luca studied in Lausanne and spent most of his professional life searching for minerals abroad, first in Brazil and later in Africa. In a 2010 portrait by Swissinfo, he described his work as a kind of treasure hunt that fascinated him more than a career in Switzerland.
He was not only interested in finding gold and other rare metals. The geologist was concerned about the fierce competition for raw materials and what could trigger their scarcity. But he was optimistic and believed that people would use technical advances to prevent bottlenecks.
Switzerland is facing its largest Legionnaires’ disease outbreak in recent years. In Basel, 26 people have fallen ill, one of whom has died.
There has been an exceptionally large outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in Basel. This is a disease caused by Legionella – bacteria in fresh water. In the worst case, it can be fatal; one person has died in Basel. A total of 26 people have fallen ill, 25 had to be treated in hospital. One person is still in intensive care.
Legionnaires’ disease is a notified disease. After the cases piled up, the authorities began searching for the cause on July 21. It could be traced back to two cooling towers that stand on the roof of the Manor headquarters. These are now being renovated.
You can become infected with the disease if you inhale atomised water droplets. In Basel, several Manor employees are among the sick, as well as people in the neighborhood. But also those from other parts of the city. Depending on the weather, the aerosols can spread for kilometers. Further infections are expected, as the incubation period is two to ten days.
Translated from German, sub-edited by Anand Chandrasekhar.
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