AI DJ with cloned human voice hosts radio station in Portland, Oregon

• On Tuesday, the Portland, Oregon radio station announced that AI DJ will be the part-time host of the broadcast.
• Dubbed “AI Ashley” for its human inspiration, this voice is powered by Futuri Media’s RadioGPT.
• Twitter users shared mixed reactions to AI Ashley’s introduction into the radio industry.

Listeners of Portland, Oregon radio station Live 95.5 can now hear part-time AI DJ hosting for five hours each day.

On Tuesday, KBFF’s Live 95.5 introduced viewers to “AI Ashley,” a clone version of the station’s daytime host Ashley Elzinga. According to TechCrunch, the voice is nearly identical to Erzinga and will be broadcast to listeners daily from 10am to 3pm.

When the station dialed up one lucky listener, a cloned voice said, “AI Ashley is calling our first Taylor Swift winner.”

The station uses Futuri Media’s RadioGPT tool powered by GPT-4 to create a script for AI Ashley to read based on breaking news collected from digital and social media platforms. But executives at Live 95.5’s parent company say the “traditional Ashley” won’t be a complete replacement.

The station claims to be “the world’s first radio station with an AI DJ”, but it’s unclear if it has ever attempted anything like this. Live 95.5 did not immediately respond to an insider’s request for comment.

“It’s a hybrid situation where some segments turn on traditional Ashleys and other segments turn on AI Ashleys,” Alpha Media vice president of content Phil Becker told TechCrunch. Alpha Media owns or operates more than 200 radio stations across the United States, including Live 95.5 in Portland.

Following the announcement, Twitter users expressed concern about the role of AI in the future job market. Some people argued that The move was ‘completely downplayed’ Not only radio presenters, but others Praise live 95.5 For finding ways to deliver consistent content to your audience.

According to TechCrunch, the agency is already planning how both Elzinga and AI Ashley can contribute to Live 95.5.

“If AI Ashley broadcasts, the traditional Ashley may do something in the community, moderate social posts, or work on digital assets or other elements that come with the job,” Becker said. Stated.

Media giant iHeartMedia surprised local radio stations by laying off staff in 2020 and started investing in AI. This technology is rapidly changing the music industry as well, with startups developing new tools for recording and writing lyrics.

In the publishing industry, voice actors are worried about the loss of voiceover jobs for audiobooks over concerns that AI will duplicate their voices. Earlier this year, Apple began rolling out dozens of audiobooks narrated by AI voices “Jackson” and “Madison.”