'I Guess I Have the Day Off': The World's First AI DJ Has Officially Hit Radio Airwaves Alpha Media's KBFF Live 95.5 FM in Oregon debuted "AI Ashley" on Tuesday.
By Sam Silverman Edited by Jessica Thomas
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The first-ever AI-powered DJ has officially made its on-air debut.
Alpha Media's KBFF Live 95.5 FM in Portland, Oregon, became the first radio station to put an AI-generated disc jockey on the radio. In an announcement on Tuesday, the station said it would be using Futuri Media's RadioGPT software to broadcast an AI/synthetic version of its host, Ashley Elzinga.
In a series of videos, the real Ashley Elzinga demonstrated how similar AI Ashley sounds to her. AI Ashley can interact with listeners and callers and even gave one winning listener Taylor Swift tickets. "I guess I have the day off," the real Ashley joked after showing off AI Ashley's abilities.
We made history as the world's first radio station with an AI DJ! Our midday host Ashley has become AI Ashley! We can't wait for you to meet Ashley, the world's first artificially intelligent DJ. As to the intelligence of our other DJ's…we'll save that for another post ;) pic.twitter.com/CtlMhYU0IO
— Live 95.5 (@live955) June 13, 2023
But Alpha Media's EVP of content Phil Becker assured listeners that Elzinga's job is safe and she'll be receiving the same pay, telling TechCrunch that AI Ashley is a tool that will allow DJs to multitask like never before.
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"It's a hybrid situation where we'll have traditional Ashley on during some segments, and we'll have AI Ashley on during other segments," Becker explained to the outlet. "In an instance where AI Ashley would be broadcasting, the traditional Ashley might be doing something in the community, managing social posts or working on digital assets or the other elements that come with the job."
Becker claimed the station wants to be transparent with its listeners about the addition of AI Ashley, saying "It's not our intent to ever deceive anybody."
People can tune in to hear AI Ashley on Live 95.5 every day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., per Tech Crunch.
