Thy has been on the radio for six months. Turns out she isn’t real (www.smh.com.au)

submitted 3 months ago by alyaza@beehaw.org to c/news@beehaw.org

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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.

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[-] thejml@lemm.ee 16 points 3 months ago

But do people like “her” content? Like, I’ll be honest, radio mid day to me is very much a “spin some hits and good jams and don’t talk over everything or interrupt” kind of thing. I don’t want a DJ talking over or between tracks other than the occasional mention of what the song was. A number of stations I’ve frequented in the past were literally just a DJ’s playlist with ads interjecting every so often.

[-] superflippy@mastodon.xyz 8 points 3 months ago

@thejml @alyaza I often assume a lot of radio stations are just using pre-programmed playlists. I don't think that's much different than having a fake DJ, except for the honesty.

[-] SteevyT@beehaw.org 4 points 3 months 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.

[-] SplashJackson@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 months ago

Straight up excellent 8 minutes of Boston, DJ was a fucknut

this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2025

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