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Introduction Although AI virtual news anchors have gained attention for their accurate and uninterrupted broadcasting, existing research has mainly focused on technical efficiency, leaving insufficient understanding of normative deviations in their speech and the impact on audience experience. Methods This study conducted in depth interviews with 11 Chinese news consumers and 2 technology practitioners from the Chinese state-media sector to examine audience perceptions of Chinese AI virtual anchor performance within the state-media context. Results Results showed that participants widely perceived deficiencies in sentence stress, intonation, and rhythm. These perceived normative deviations were reported by participants as reducing clarity, emotional resonance, and audience engagement. Beyond technical dissatisfaction, 9 out of 11 participants expressed value rational concerns, focusing on lack of human connection, aesthetic quality, and weakened social ritual functions of news broadcasting. Discussion Based on these findings, the study proposes a working model in which perceived linguistic deviations are linked to experienced communication failure and an inferred sense of value imbalance. The findings suggest that sustainable development of virtual anchor technology may benefit from recalibrating the relationship between instrumental and value rationality, treating technical efficiency as a means rather than an end. These findings offer empirically grounded directions for human machine communication research and for exploring how humanistic values might be integrated into AI mediated news practice.
Li et al. (Fri,) studied this question.