An Australian radio station has come under scrutiny after it was revealed that one of its weekday shows had been presented by an Artificial Intelligence-generated host for six months without any disclosure to the audience. CADA, part of the Australian Radio Network (ARN) and broadcast in Sydney as well as via the iHeartRadio app, created a digital host named Thy using software from the voice cloning company ElevenLabs. The four-hour daily program, ´Workdays with Thy,´ was marketed and scheduled as a regular show, with no indication on its website or promotional material that Thy was not a real person.
The true nature of Thy only came to light after Sydney-based writer Stephanie Coombes raised questions about the host’s background, noting the lack of any personal information or biography. By analyzing audio clips, listeners discovered that repeated phrases were acoustically identical across different shows, further fueling suspicion. Eventually, ARN project leader Fayed Tohme confirmed in a now-deleted LinkedIn post that Thy was generated by Artificial Intelligence, calling the show an experiment that pushed the boundaries of what ´live radio´ could mean. He stated that Thy ´sounds real´ and has garnered genuine fans, despite not being a real person, and highlighted the technical achievement of running a radio program ´with no mic, no studio, just code and vibes.´
The Australian Broadcasting Authority currently has no rules against using Artificial Intelligence in broadcast content. However, ARN faced criticism from industry professionals for not disclosing the nature of the host. Teresa Lim, vice president of the Australian Association of Voice Actors, pointed out that listeners had been misled, stating, ´They should have been upfront and completely honest, disclosing that the radio host was an Artificial Intelligence.´ ARN later responded by saying it was a trial to explore how new technologies can support engaging content, but also acknowledged the unique value that on-air personalities bring. The company noted that the show used the voice of an ARN team member to create Thy´s digital persona and said that Artificial Intelligence is being explored by broadcasters globally for potential future use, but transparency remains a contentious issue.
