Using AI-generated voices on the radio was the lead story of a Baltimore ABC affiliate WMAR-TV’s 6pm newscast, reports Inside Radio.

Spurred by the arrival of “AI Ashley” in Portland, OR, news outlets have been picking up on the “robots on the radio” narrative, continues Inside Radio. WMAR reporter Elizabeth Worthington checked the pulse of the staff from non-commercial adult alternative WTMD Townson, MD (89.7) regarding the use of AI in the radio industry. Former CBS News VP/GM Craig Swagler, who now serves as President/GM of WTMD parent company Your Public Radio tells WMAR-TV, “There’s an expectation, that the individual that is coming to you out of that speaker, in your car, in that very intimate environment, is someone you know.”

Swagler says there are no plans to use AI technology to create a synthetic personality like the one that can be heard on Alpha Media CHR “Live 95.5” KBFF Portland, OR on WTMD or news/talk sister WYPR (88.1). He does caution that it will be up to the audience to make the final decision on the degree to which AI is used on the radio.

“The audience is the voting democracy in many ways,” he explains. “So, if they accept it, there could be more of an escalation of it. We’ll have to see how that turns out.”

More here.

PHOTO: WMAR