AI host: ARN radio station CADA called out for failing to disclose AI host
www.smh.com.au

A Sydney radio station has been using an AI-generated host for about six months without disclosing it – and was not legally obliged to.

It was revealed last week that Australian Radio Network’s (ARN) Sydney-based CADA station, which broadcasts across western Sydney and is available online and through the iHeartRadio app, had created and deployed an AI host for its Workdays with Thy slot.

The artificial host known as “Thy” is on-air at 11am each weekday to present four hours of hip-hop, but at no point during the show, nor anywhere on the ARN website, is the use of AI disclosed.

After initial questioning from Stephanie Coombes in The Carpet newsletter, it was revealed that the station used ElevenLabs – a generative AI audio platform that transforms text into speech – to create Thy, whose likeness and voice were cloned from a real employee in the ARN finance team.

An ARN spokesperson said the company was exploring how new technology could enhance the listener experience.

  • SteevyT@beehaw.org
    3·
    15 hours ago

    I don’t want a DJ talking over or between tracks other than the occasional mention of what the song was.

    Most egregious instance of this I ever heard was the dude that talked over the ENTIRE FUCKING RUNTIME OF FOREPLAY. He finally shut up when Long Time started, but God damn, he talked right over the best part.