According to reports, Futuri, a media company, plans to launch RadioGPT, a radio content generator powered by GPT-4, in local radio stations in the United States and Canada next month. RadioGPT uses the same technology as ChatGPT to produce AI-generated scripts and voices for radio airtime and customized local news content.
If you’re curious about what AI-generated DJ voices sound like, you can listen to a demo provided by the company.
The demo includes curated songs mixed with snippets of RadioGPT-generated voices reporting news, weather, and traffic updates. The AI voices make it clear to listeners that they are entirely generated by AI technology.
In between songs, one of the AI hosts boasts, “Anything a radio human can do, I can do better. Every voice you hear is 100% AI.”
Another AI voice provided a heartwarming summary of a local news story before moving on to another segment. However, an instance of a “trending” story gave the impression that the AI may have gained early access or confirmation about Apple’s unreleased iPhone 15 Pro.
“I got a sneak peek of the iPhone 15 Pro,” the AI announced, discussing unverified features such as its battery life. “It looks like it’s coming in September. That’s the cool thing about us AI types, no need to recharge; we just keep going and going and going.”
It’s alleged that the AI was sourcing information from online reports or unofficial leaks from blogs that cover the most recent Apple rumors.
The announcement that AI technology will be entering the realm of traditional radio stations may cause concern for existing radio DJs, who may wonder whether their jobs are now in jeopardy.
However, Daniel Anstandig, the CEO and founder of Futuri, reassured reporters that RadioGPT was intended to “save radio, not compete with it.”
Anstandig explained, “Our research indicates that seven out of ten air shifts globally are already unmanned, with generic production or voice tracking. What we aim to do is to enhance a station’s capacity to incorporate more live and local content into its programming.”
According to reports, the technology is set to debut in mid-April at Alpha Media, which oversees more than 200 radio stations in the United States, and Rogers Sports & Media, which owns 55 stations and over 29 podcasts in Canada.
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