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Thursday, March 10, 2022

Texas Radio Hall of Fame issues statement concerning new AI voice cloning technology

Doug Harris
Doug Harris


InsideRadio has a post on how, "AI technology is allowing human voices to be synthetically reproduced."

The article talks about how host Bert Weiss, of the syndicated  “The Bert Show,” is now using the technology to produce custom promos/content for his 27 market affiliates without having to record the items individually.

So one day will your favorite radio dj be based on a real person, but that person won't actually be voice-tracking what you hear over the air?

This potential future caught the ears of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame.  Executive Director Doug Harris, has issued the following statement about the use of voice cloning technology:


“The Executive Board of the Texas Radio Hall of Fame wishes to voice its concern over recent announcements regarding the development of ‘voice cloning’ technology and its planned implementation by radio groups and syndicated personalities.

The power of radio is built on a foundation of trust with the listener and this practice of artificial replication would violate the spirit of this trust. 

We believe that this move will accelerate the ongoing erosion of employment opportunities for air personalities and will ultimately impact the livelihoods of radio professionals in markets of all size. 

This ‘slippery slope’ journey could easily lead to the laboratory-style ‘creation’ of a completely fabricated radio ‘host’ and the unmonitored delivery of unintended and unauthorized messages in the voice of that 'host.' 

It provides no real benefit to the listener and further enables the production of less than satisfying broadcast content. The pursuit of modest, short-term savings for a fraction of the broadcast community should not justify the inevitable, long-term consequences for countless current and future broadcasters.”



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