Radio station secretly used an AI host & people thought she was human for months

Australian radio listeners were duped into believing a host was a real person when she was actually AI-generated.

Sydney-based Aussie radio station CADA didn’t let anyone know the DJ of its The Workdays with Thy show was AI.

For six months, listeners tuned into the four-hour program for a blend of hip-hop, R&B, pop, and dance music.

“Every weekday from 11am-3pm while you are at work, driving around, doing the commute on public transport or at uni, Thy will be playing you the hottest tracks from around the world,” CADA described the show on its website.

However, the station never disclosed that Thy wasn’t a real person and it took some big questions being raised before the truth was revealed.

AI radio host dupes thousands

As reported by The Carpet’s Stephanie Coombes, Thy didn’t have any sort of social media presence or photos outside of the one on CADA’s page.

“It seems she was photographed just once and then promptly turned invisible,” she explained.

Furthermore, after some analysis of audio tracks, it was determined that the host sounded similar in two instances where she used the words “old school.”

As it turns out, Thy was developed by voice cloning firm ElevenLabs. CADA’s owner, ARN Media, confirmed to the Financial Review that Thy’s voice and appearance were modeled after a real employee.

In a deleted LinkedIn post, ARN project leader Fayed Tohme called Thy an experiment “that’s pushing the boundaries of what ‘live radio’ even means.”

Thy’s show, which began in November 2024, reportedly reaches over 70,000 people based on its March ratings.

Teresa Lim, vice president of the Australian Association of Voice Actors, said CADA should have been transparent about the AI host, but there are not any rules in the country about using AI in broadcasts.

“They should have been upfront and completely honest, disclosing that the radio host was an AI,” she said. “People have been deceived into thinking it’s a real person because there’s no AI labeling.”

It’s not just radio hosts that people need to be wary about when it comes to AI. In April, Japanese Playboy magazines featured an AI model named Satsuki Ai.