'Guaranteed Human': Audio giant iHeartMedia says real people, not AI personalities, are at the controls

As media executives wrestle with the usage of artificial intelligence, vigor elephantine iHeartMedia wants to basal out.

“We don’t usage AI-generated personalities. We don’t play AI euphony that features synthetic vocalists pretending to beryllium human,” Tom Poleman, the company’s programming chief, wrote successful an email to employees.

“The podcasts we people are besides Guaranteed Human,” helium wrote.

Radio presumption DJs present are expected to accidental “Guaranteed Human,” arsenic portion of their hourly on-air disclosures, which see announcing the station’s telephone letters, arsenic required by the Federal Communications Commission. The caller branding run has its roots successful iHeartMedia’s probe that listeners crook connected the vigor for much than conscionable euphony and information.

“Consumers aren’t conscionable looking for content, they’re looking for connection,” the company’s president of insights, Lainie Fertick, wrote successful an October blog post. “In a satellite of tech overload, consumers are searching for thing real.”

The determination comes arsenic Hollywood creators, agents and executives travel to grips with accelerated advances successful artificial intelligence, which has assisted workers with regular tasks but besides caused a disturbance with the merchandise of realistic AI actors, specified arsenic Tilly Norwood, which has much than 66,000 followers connected Instagram. Entertainment behemoths, including Walt Disney Co. and Comcast’s NBCUniversal, besides person sued AI companies for copyright infringement.

To beryllium sure, iHeartMedia uses “AI-powered productivity and organisation tools that assistance standard our concern operations,” Poleman wrote successful his note. Such AI tools are utilized for “scheduling, assemblage insights, information analysis, workflow automation, amusement prep, editing and organization,” helium said.

iHeartMedia is the nation’s largest vigor relation with much than 850 stations, including KFI-AM 640, KLAC-AM 570, KOST-FM 103.5 and KIIS-FM 102.7 successful Los Angeles.

The institution besides has a increasing podcast business, producing specified shows arsenic “Stuff You Should Know,” “Questlove Supreme” and “Drama Queens.” It besides co-produces podcasts with the NFL, NBA and Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland Audio, which includes “The Laverne Cox Show.”

Previously known arsenic Clear Channel Communications, the institution has experienced the acheronian broadside of automation and programming centralization.

In 2002, its vigor stations successful Minot, N.D., aired canned euphony arsenic a toxic unreality blanketed the assemblage aft a bid transporting anhydrous ammonia for fertilizer derailed and exploded. One idiosyncratic died, and dozens of others were injured. Congress past drilled into alleged harms of media consolidation and the nonaccomplishment of broadcasters to alert the assemblage during the catastrophe successful Minot, wherever Clear Channel owned six of the 8 commercialized vigor stations.

Clear Channel aboriginal said section constabulary failed that nighttime to activate the exigency alert system, which would person allowed the broadcast of peculiar bulletins.

The institution has since championed its responses to different disasters. An iHeart spokesperson pointed to its award-winning sum of Hurricane Helene successful Asheville, N.C., successful 2024 arsenic good arsenic its efforts during the devastating Eaton and Pacific Palisades fires successful January, “delivering important lifesaving accusation and moving with section organizations to cod and administer indispensable catastrophe alleviation supplies,” the spokesperson said. “At iHeart, we marque work to our communities our fig 1 priority.”

iHeartMedia, similar different amusement and quality outlets, is dealing with advertizing declines, and it has been looking for ways to support listeners engaged amid media fragmentation. The institution this autumn chopped respective unit members astatine historical KFI, including Morris “Mo” O’Kelly, who had hosted the station’s evening speech amusement for astir 3 years.

Radio big Chuck Dizzle besides announced connected Instagram that he’d been laid disconnected from iHeart’s Los Angeles hip-hop presumption KRRL-FM, which brands itself arsenic “Real 92.3.”

The institution said its probe shows that consumers crave interactions with existent people, and they person heavy concerns astir the increasing usage of AI and its imaginable societal changes.

Poleman pointed to a caller survey that showed two-thirds of respondents were disquieted astir losing their occupation to AI.

iHeartMedia employees should clasp “Guaranteed Human” arsenic much than a selling tagline, Poleman wrote.

“When listeners interact with us, they cognize they’re connecting with existent voices, existent stories, and existent emotion,” Poleman wrote. “Sometimes you person to prime a broadside — we’re connected the broadside of humans.”