When I talk to any fellow radio person lately, regardless of their position, AI always comes up at some point. Maybe that’s because I’m so outspoken about my thoughts on AI or it’s just top of mind for everyone right now. One thing I’ve noticed after having all of those conversations is that most radio people tend to treat AI as if it’s all or nothing, either they love it or refuse to use it entirely. But, there is a middle ground and it just might be the answer to our staffing and budget shortages. Here are my thoughts on how we find the happy medium.
Radio SHOULD NOT fire existing staff and replace them with AI. Since I began consulting stations six years ago, I haven’t worked with or spoken to any radio station or group that was overstaffed. Every one of them would be better served by adding a person or two in a key role. They just don’t have the budget to justify it and, even when they do, finding a person who fits their vacancy locally or who is willing to relocate isn’t a quick or easy process.
Instead, radio SHOULD keep every employee on staff whose willing to learn a combination of AI tools tailored to their position and job duties. There are several I use daily that I regularly recommend to clients and anyone who will listen and none of them are cost prohibitive or hard to learn. However, I haven’t found any group where everyone on staff is willing to use AI tools and the ones who are not are reducing their value and run the risk of losing their gig. Those who do however will become the AI enhanced humans who can help our stations and groups look and sound like we have larger staffs than we’ve ever had at a fraction of the cost.
We can even go a step further by hiring a handful of video editors and journalists who’ve been displaced in their respective industries to work within our groups, and our budgets, to create digital content for our stations. Then train our radio employees on digital content while our radio employees train them on broadcasting. Provided those displaced video editors and journalists are also open to using AI tools that increase their productivity and efficiency.
For the record, I do not have an issue with realistic sounding AI voices on the air as long as those AI voices are filling previously unmanned dayparts. They are also a helpful tool for existing talent to use for bits and benchmarks and other creative digital content.
What do you think? Are AI Enhanced Humans a good or bad idea for radio? Comment below or email me at Andy@RadioStationConsultant.com.
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