An Australian radio station has come under fire for reportedly using an AI-generated female host for six months without mentioning it before listeners started questioning “her” identity.
Last year, Australian Radio Network’s CADA station, which broadcasts in Sydney, introduced a new host named Thy and even created a new show for her called Workdays with Thy. The young-sounding woman presented music for four hours a day from Monday to Friday, and things went smoothly until people started asking questions about the mysterious Thy. The fact that she had no last name and no biography anywhere was suspicious enough, but then some listeners noticed that certain phrases she used sounded identical every time she uttered them. Questions and theories about Thy’s true identity started spreading online, and CADA eventually revealed that she wasn’t a real person.
Photo: Australian Radio Network/CADA
“What is Thy’s last name? Who is she? Where did she come from? There is no biography or further information about the woman who is supposedly presenting this show,” Sydney-based writer Stephanie Coombes wrote on her blog.
An analysis of Thy’s voice also revealed that certain phrases, like “old school”, sounded identical when she uttered them across multiple shows, so Australian Radio Network project leader Fayed Tohme had no choice but to admit that the mysterious radio host was actually an AI-generated software developed by voice-cloning firm ElevenLabs.
“No mic, no studio, just code and vibes,” Tohme wrote in a since-deleted LinkedIn post. “An experiment by ARN and ElevenLabs that’s pushing the boundaries of what ‘live radio’ even means.”
There are currently no laws restricting Australian radio stations from using AI-generated content during their broadcasts, but the Australian Radio Network has been criticised for failing to disclose the use of AI and deceiving listeners into thinking that Thy was a real person. The network has since put out a statement, admitting to testing AI, but also reassuring everyone that it didn’t plan on replacing human hosts anytime soon.
“This is a space being explored by broadcasters globally, and while the trial has offered valuable insights, it’s also reinforced the unique value that personalities bring to creating truly compelling content,” the ARN statement read.
With AI television news anchors already a reality, it’s no surprise that human radio host jobs are also in peril. The fact that people took months o figure out Thy wasn’t real must give AI developers hope of replacing humans with their creations at some point.
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