Radio station busted for using an AI radio host
An Aussie radio station secretly swapped a human DJ for AI… and nobody noticed for six months!
Here’s a plot twist no one saw coming: an Australian radio station has been secretly letting an AI host one of their shows for six whole months, and not a single listener had a clue.
According to The Independent, Sydney’s CADA radio station, which is part of the Australian Radio Network (ARN), created a host named Thy using artificial intelligence software made by voice cloning firm ElevenLabs.
Thy would jump on the airwaves for four hours a day, Monday to Friday, hyping listeners up with good vibes and great tunes.
The only problem? Well, no one knew she wasn’t a real person.
On their website, they hyped her up like any other radio personality.
“If your day is looking a bit bleh, let Thy and CADA be the energy and vibe to get your mood lifted.”
Except Thy wasn’t exactly vibing in a studio somewhere with a cup of coffee and a playlist. She was all code. Just code and vibes.
The truth started unravelling when a sharp-eared writer from Sydney, Stephanie Coombes, began asking questions.
In a blog post, she wrote: “What is Thy’s last name? Who is she? Where did she come from?”
There was no bio, no Insta handle and no awkward throwback pics. Just… Thy.
Suspicion quickly turned into a full-on investigation when audio nerds realised she said the phrase “old school” the exact same way every single time across different shows.
Valid observation, because if there’s one thing humans are great at, it’s inconsistency.
Soon enough, ARN project leader Fayed Tohme admitted the truth in a now-deleted LinkedIn post, proudly stating: "No mic, no studio, just code and vibes.”
He called it an experiment to “push the boundaries of what ‘live radio’ even means”.
While there aren’t any official rules against using AI on air (yet), people weren’t thrilled that no one bothered to mention that Thy was a digital decoy.
Teresa Lim, VP of the Australian Association of Voice Actors, told Mediaweek: “They should have been upfront and completely honest…
"People have been deceived into thinking it’s a real person because there’s no AI labelling.”
In classic PR fashion, ARN released a statement saying they’ve been “trialling AI audio tools” and that while it’s been insightful, it’s also reminded them how valuable actual human personalities are when it comes to making radio magic.
Experimenting with new tech is cool and all, but maybe let us know when our favourite DJ might actually be a robot.
Someone will eventually get bored of hearing “old school” and start investigating.
Would you mind if your favourite radio host was AI? Or would you be totally fine vibing to code and vibes?
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