Radio Has an AI Problem, But It May Not Be the One Everybody Thinks

On The Dial | Broadcasting Commentary

There is a rather interesting argument happening throughout the radio industry, and apparently, artificial intelligence has become the newest two-letter word in broadcasting. Some people believe it represents the end of creativity, others see it as the future of everything, and a few seem convinced that anyone using AI must have somehow surrendered their intelligence, originality, and professional credibility. Meanwhile, many of those same people are sitting in studios surrounded by automation systems, digital production software, music scheduling programs, and technology that would have seemed like science fiction thirty years ago.

And somehow, we’ve decided that using one more tool is cheating.

Ladies and gentlemen, we need to have a conversation.

Not about whether artificial intelligence is coming to radio. It’s already here. We need to talk about the difference between using AI to do your job and using AI to make your job easier.

Because those are two entirely different things.

Remember when production directors physically cut tape with razor blades? Remember cart machines, handwritten music logs, and the days when editing a sixty-second commercial could become an afternoon project?

Technology changed all of that.

Nobody accused a production director of lacking talent because Adobe Audition replaced the reel-to-reel machine. Nobody suggested that program directors stopped being programmers when music scheduling software arrived.

So why should a broadcaster who uses AI to organize research, brainstorm ideas, proofread material, or prepare for an interview suddenly be considered less capable?

If using technology to save time is cheating, somebody had better confiscate every calculator in the accounting department.

The issue isn’t whether you use the tool.

It’s what you allow the tool to do.

Let’s establish a reasonable standard.

If artificial intelligence helps a journalist organize research, the journalist still has to verify the facts.

If it helps a morning personality develop interview questions, the personality still has to conduct the interview.

If it helps a production director write a commercial, somebody still has to make the creative decisions and ensure the copy is accurate.

And if it helps a writer organize ideas, improve structure, or polish language, that writer remains responsible for the finished article.

AI can help you find the words. It shouldn’t replace having something worth saying.

There’s a world of difference between using technology to strengthen your work and copying whatever a computer produces without giving it another thought.

That second approach isn’t innovation.

It’s laziness with a high-speed internet connection.

And let’s be fair. We’ve all encountered entirely human-produced radio content that could have benefited from a little more thought.

A computer didn’t invent bad writing, boring radio, or questionable programming decisions.

Those were around long before anybody heard of ChatGPT.

Now, there are legitimate reasons to be concerned about AI.

Some companies may see it primarily as an opportunity to eliminate positions. Synthetic voices raise questions about consent and ownership. AI-generated information can be inaccurate, and careless use can damage a broadcaster’s credibility.

Those concerns deserve serious attention.

But the answer isn’t to reject the technology altogether.

It’s to establish standards.

Verify information. Protect confidential material. Respect copyright. Obtain permission before using someone’s voice or likeness. Be transparent when synthetic content could mislead an audience.

Most importantly, keep human judgment in charge.

Because a computer can suggest a morning-show joke, but it doesn’t know the listeners who’ve called that show for twenty years.

It can generate promotional copy, but it doesn’t understand the relationship a local station has built with its community.

And it can produce thousands of words in seconds, but it cannot independently guarantee that a single one of them is accurate.

The technology should give broadcasters more time to be human, not provide management with an excuse to remove humans from broadcasting.

Here’s where I think the industry has gotten this conversation backward.

Instead of asking whether something is accurate, creative, informative, or entertaining, some people immediately ask whether AI was involved.

But that’s the wrong starting point.

If a story contains false information, challenge it.

If somebody plagiarizes, hold them accountable.

If a station misleads listeners with synthetic audio, demand transparency.

But if a broadcaster uses AI responsibly to research more efficiently, organize ideas, or improve a finished product, what exactly is the offense?

A poorly written article doesn’t become brilliant because a human typed every word. And a well-researched article doesn’t automatically become worthless because technology assisted the writer.

The standards should be accuracy, originality, accountability, and the value delivered to the audience.

Those standards shouldn’t change simply because the tools do.

I’ve spent enough time in radio to understand that every major technological advancement comes with skeptics. Sometimes those skeptics identify genuine problems, and we should listen. But refusing to learn something simply because it’s unfamiliar is not a plan for the future.

Artificial intelligence isn’t going away.

Broadcasters who understand its strengths and limitations will have opportunities to work more efficiently while preserving the creativity that makes this business special.

And those who choose not to use it have every right to make that decision.

What they shouldn’t do is assume that everyone who makes a different choice has somehow abandoned professional integrity.

Using AI doesn’t make you a better broadcaster. Refusing AI doesn’t make you a better broadcaster, either. Your work determines that.

A carpenter doesn’t become less skilled because he uses a power saw. A photographer doesn’t lose artistic credibility because she edits digitally. And a broadcaster doesn’t surrender professional judgment simply by using technology to make the workday more productive.

The responsibility remains with the person doing the work.

That’s where it belongs.

So perhaps it’s time to stop asking whether broadcasters are using artificial intelligence and start asking whether they’re using it intelligently.

Because the microphone doesn’t care how you prepared your show.

The audience cares whether you have something worth listening to.

And if AI helps you spend less time doing busywork and more time creating something meaningful, that’s not the death of broadcasting.

That might actually be progress.

At On The Dial, we believe technology should strengthen creativity, not replace it. Artificial intelligence is a tool, not a substitute for experience, integrity, or original thought. The future of radio will depend on how wisely we use it, not how loudly we argue about its existence.

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