--- title: "Radio DJ “Celebrates” Her New AI Clone Replacement" description: "A radio station in Portland, Oregon has cloned one of its DJs' voices using artificial intelligence and deployed it on-air." date: "2023-06-20" modified: "2023-06-20" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/radio-dj-ai-replacement" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "gpt-4" - "radio" - "the digest" - "voice cloning" --- # Radio DJ “Celebrates” Her New AI Clone Replacement ![A radio station decided to clone one of its DJs' voices using AI, deploy it like the real thing, and make the human DJ advertise it, too.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## R-AI-dio A radio station in Portland, Oregon has cloned one of its DJs' voices using artificial intelligence and deployed it on-air. As [*Tech Crunch* reported last week](), Portland's Live 95.5 FM radio station is now using "RadioGPT," a GPT-4-powered tool created by the company Futuri Media, to essentially replace human DJs with an AI that speaks and sounds like the real thing. "I’m like your fun best friend on the radio, with less drama and more meme references," reads Futuri Media's [official description]() of the tool. In a [Twitter post]() about the part-time AI DJ, Live 95.5's midday host Ashley Elzinga introduced "AI Ashley," her algorithmic voice clone, and enthusiastically showcased how the tech works. In other words, a radio DJ just proudly announced her AI doppelganger, which could potentially replace her one day. https://twitter.com/live955/status/1668687147505954816 ## Awk Although the radio station told *Tech Crunch* that the AI clone isn't fully replacing "traditional Ashley," folks on Twitter were unsurprisingly quick to point out that the entire display is pretty awkward. As one user noted, the timing of "RadioGPT" couldn't be worse for the radio industry. "\[Six\] radio stations went dark in Canada yesterday as a cost-cutting effort by a major media power in this country," [the user wrote](), "but I'm sure this will be nothing but positive for an industry that fucking loves to cripple itself." "Imagine celebrating your replacement," [another tweeted]() about the bizarre spectacle while [yet another said]() they "can't wait for the video when AI Ashley tells Ashley she has 15 minutes to pack her things and \[get the fuck out\]." Indeed, it is incredibly strange to watch a human both introduce their AI clone and express excitement over it literally doing their job. ## Simulacrum More recently, [the station posted a video]() of AI Ashley at work as it calls a lucky sweepstakes winner to alert them that they'd won tickets to see Taylor Swift in concert. Though the AI introduces itself before the on-air call, it's unclear whether or not the person on the other end of the line knows they're not speaking to a human. As *Tech Crunch* noted in its initial report, the radio industry has had it particularly rough in recent years, with iHeartMedia, one of the largest media conglomerates in the US, laying off hundreds of staffers in 2020, restructuring its entire organization and, perhaps most tellingly, [investing in AI](). To be clear, 95.5 Live is not owned by iHeartMedia, but the station's excited deployment of "AI Ashley" — and its decision to have the human the AI is based on promoting it — is a grotesque analog of the [very job replacement]() that so many people are [worried about](). **More on AI and the workforce:** [*GitHub Says 92 Percent of Programmers Are Using AI*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()