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'AI is Taking Your Favorite Radio by Storm': Swiss Station Replaces DJs, Musicians with AI for a Day


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Said the Swiss radio station's chief, Antoine Multone,“The main feedback we get, in 90% of the messages, is: ‘It’s cool, but there’s a human element missing. You can sense these are robots, and there are fewer surprises, less perso

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The voices sound like well-known personalities, the music features trendy dance beats and hip-hop syncopations, and the jokes and laughter are contagious. But listeners of an offbeat Swiss public radio station repeatedly got the message on Thursday: Today's programming is brought to you by Artificial Intelligence.

Three months in the making, the French-language station Couleur 3 (Color 3) is touting a one-day experiment using cloned voices of five real, human presenters — in what managers claim is a world first — and never-aired-before music composed almost entirely by computers, not people. From 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., the station said, AI controlled its airwaves. Every 20 minutes, listeners got a reminder.

With an eerie, Sci-Fi movie-like track whirring in the background, a soothing, raspy female voice said: "AI is taking your favorite radio by storm."

"For 13 hours, our digital alter egos have taken the reins, broadcasting their voices and their messages across the airwaves, without mercy or respite," the voice said, at times almost taunting listeners. "The boundaries between human and machine have been blurred, and it's up to you to unravel what's real and what's fake."

"Our voice clones and AI are here to unsettle, surprise and shake you. And for that matter, this text was also written by a robot."

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