If you’re majoring in journalism, you may want to switch to computer science. Virtual newscasts, though primitive, are making major inroads into the field. Northwestern University has a virtual video news program called News at Seven. Using phrases, images, and clips taken from the internet, News at Seven can create a general news anchor segment, movie reviews, celebrity shout outs, or a pop culture opinion segment (called Angry Fish). Appearing regularly at Zap2it, the virtual hosts aren’t much to listen to, and they’re not ready for prime time, but they are getting better. Check out examples of each news segment in the videos after the break.

Northwestern already has the writing world in debate over its virtual sports journalist program, Stats Monkey. With News at Seven, the university is taking automated information dispensing to the next level. The news segments cover a wide range of interests, from hard science to celebrity gossip. While the current virtual hosts are annoying, when it comes to entertainment industry news I can’t say I prefer the real ones over the fakes. Eventually, the simulated personalities could be improved, and their voices made more realistic. Or, taking a page from Hanson robotics, lovable animatronic androids could speak the words that the News at Seven program writes. Either way, we could eventually see VR news as a reasonable alternative to the seemingly formulaic programs produced by many studios.

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