Did KaladKaren just throw shade at GMA’s AI sportscasters?

KaladKaren stirred netizens when she appeared to throw shade at GMA Network’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) in sports broadcasting, and then called out a basher for misgendering her.

In a video captured by one @justbbangkyu on dig at the Kapuso Channel’s launch of its AI-generated sportscasters, Maia and Marco.

‘And that’s it this Monday. Abangan was one of the most important people in showbiz balita. Hindi po ‘to AI, ako po si Kaladkaren (And that’s it for this Monday. Stay tuned tomorrow for better updates and showbiz news. This is not AI, I am Kaladkaren),” Kaladkaren said.

LOUDER GHURL, MS. @jervijervi! 🤩🙌 pic.twitter.com/Ia9O5uxUCx

— Carljun ✨ (@justbbangkyu) September 25, 2023

A separate video also showed KaladKaren doing a robot dance when fellow host, TV5 sportscaster Mikee Reyes, joked that someone had to pinch her to make sure she was a real person and not an AI. “Totoong tao po ako, mga Kapatid (I am a real human being, my brothers and sisters),” she said as another anchor, Gretchen Ho lightly reached in with her arm.

BEAT THIS ONE #FrontlinePilipinas ACHERS, @jervijervi & Tito Mikee. 🤩🙌 pic.twitter.com/5VkxZkfIUg

— Carljun ✨ (@justbbangkyu) September 25, 2023

The videos started doing the rounds on social media and Kaladkaren even shared them on her X account.

Screenshot from Kaladkaren’s X account

However, a GMA fan account with the username @KapusoThingsPH commented, “He thought he did something,” which Kaladkaren took as an attempt to misgender her.

“Do you think you can let me down by approaching me the wrong way? Gurl, I have fought and won battles worse than this. Mahiya ka (shame on you) @KapusoThingsPH,” she wrote.

Do you think you can let me down by approaching me the wrong way? Gurl, I have fought and won battles worse than this. Mahiya ka @KapusoThingsPH pic.twitter.com/5jihEo3LER

— KaladKaren (@jervijervi) September 25, 2023

The X user’s account is set to private at the time of writing.

This weekend, GMA debuted its AI-generated sportscasters Maia and Marco to help cover the NCAA Season 99 men’s basketball tournament, which drew criticism from netizens, journalists and media advocates on social media.

Despite the backlash, the network stood by its recent move, saying they are just “AI presenters” and would not replace real journalists. EDV