The last couple of months, it has been the topic of the day: ChatGPT. The GPT technology makes it possible to ask an AI to write essays and blog posts, and to answer questions to which you yourself don’t have the answer to. However, if an AI can write anything, it certainly can imitate a radio station?

That was what media company Futuri must have thought. According to Futuri, the radio station is one hundred percent hosted by AI, which derives its data from social media and the news. Despite this, don’t the radio deejays have robotic voices, and is the radio deejay always to believe?

What does RadioGPT do?

Just like any other radio station, RadioGPT plays music which is interspersed with short talks by radio deejays. The hosts of RadioGPT are, however, not real people. The AI impersonates radio deejays and derives its impersonations from other radio stations. For the news presented by RadioGPT, the tool uses social media and the news as sources of information and knowledge. That way, you will always listen to currently popular or breaking news at RadioGPT. Nevertheless, the question remains to what extent the news presented by AI is to be believed, and what sources AI considers as trustworthy and dependable.

Do radio hosts become redundant?

Radio stations have already lost a lot of listeners because of the introduction of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, but with the arrival of AI-driven radio stations, local radio stations seem to be on the losing end. What is the purpose of actual people as radio hosts when an AI impersonator can do the same? Well, do not lose hope yet. Even though the AI hosts are quite good at their jobs, radio listeners mainly listen to the radio because of their connection with the radio hosts and the authenticity of a radio station. That is an expectation of the radio listener the AI hosts cannot live up to. Despite the seemingly real impersonation of AI-hosts and the lack of a robotic voice, listeners will be able to hear the difference between their all-time favourite radio host and the new AI-driven deejay.

RadioGPT is nevertheless more than a radio station

Having said that, RadioGPT is more than just a radio station with impersonating AI-hosts that present the news and play your favourite songs. The AI-tool is additionally capable of creating radio-related content to spread on social media, display on the radio station’s website and target a local audience. This is where the writing ‘talent’ of GPT and radio come together. An AI-driven radio station seems to have a lot of advantages and for a regular listener, it might not be as exciting as it sounds. Nonetheless, if people will not be able to hear the difference between real hosts and AIs, and we cannot check the sources RadioGPT derives its data and knowledge from, we have to question the direction in which GPT technology is heading. Only time will tell.