This post was originally published on this site
Most TV meteorologists have well-honed routines logging on for the day: Check the latest data from the National Weather Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, start to prep the day’s forecasts and ready the graphics, maybe bang out an early post on social.
For Amy Freeze, it’s a little different: Pour a coffee, play with the dogs, open up the laptop and do a quick quality control check on the fresh round of forecasts her cadre of AI avatars have assembled before hitting “publish” to her digital platforms.
Meteorologists are often TV stations’ most tech-friendly staffers, but Freeze has notched up her embrace by a step-change level. A veteran TV forecaster with more than 20 years’ experience, her most recent stint was at Fox Weather and before that, nearly a dozen years at New York’s WABC. Now Freeze has hung out her own direct-to-consumer shingle, which would itself be a unique-enough move among TV meteorologists, even while a growing number of former national anchors are turning to platforms like Substack to develop DTC relationships with viewers.
But Freeze is pushing past other enterprising journalist solo acts. In just a few months, she has built and deployed avatars of herself that can analyze and present the weather. Currently, these virtual Amy Freezes are pumping out 27 forecasts a day across nine different local markets with plans to expand to 16 cities soon.
Beyond the forecasts, Freeze has also trained an avatar skinned with her body and voice to interact one-on-one with users