
RadioGPT brings AI to the airwaves
The future of radio has arrived, and it’s coming to you live from Cleveland.
Driving the news: Local media company Futuri has launched RadioGPT, the world’s first-ever radio platform powered by artificial intelligence.
Why it matters: RadioGPT could transform the broadcast industry, enabling companies to cut costs while determining some, if not all, of a radio station’s content.
How it works: RadioGPT uses Futuri’s TopicPulse technology to scan online news sources and social media to identify topics and trends in local markets.
- The platform then creates scripts for radio broadcasts — which are delivered on air by AI-generated personalities — using the same GPT-3 technology implemented by ChatGPT.
- Futuri’s technology can automate other processes as well, including creating website blogs, social media posts, short-form videos and converting on-air content into podcasts.
Zoom out: Futuri isn’t alone in this space. Last month, Spotify launched a new AI feature called DJ.
- Like a radio disc jockey, DJ offers a curated selection of music narrated by AI-powered spoken commentary.
What they’re saying: Futuri CEO Daniel Anstandig tells Axios his company created RadioGPT to “save radio, not compete with it.”
- “Our research shows that seven out of 10 air shifts around the world are already unmanned with generic production or voice tracking,” Anstandig says. “What we’re looking to do is augment a station’s ability to fill its programming with more live and local content.”
The other side: Much as we’ve seen as ChatGPT has gained attention, RadioGPT raises concerns about AI costing people their jobs.
- “What made terrestrial radio appealing was the unique personalities of disc jockeys,” longtime Cleveland radio executive John Gorman, who ran stations like WMMS and oWow Radio, tells Axios. “You’ll never be able to fully replace that.”
What’s next: Futuri has launched a demo site to showcase RadioGPT’s capabilities.
- The technology will debut at actual radio stations in mid-April, including Portland-based Alpha Media, which owns and operates more than 200 stations in the U.S., and Rogers Sports & Media, which owns 55 across Canada.
- Anstandig says he expects RadioGPT to be implemented by “several hundred” radio stations by year-end.
The bottom line: Radio broadcasting companies could look to AI as a way to cut costs and improve efficiency in a struggling industry.
– Chatbot therapy, despite cautions, finds enthusiasts
People are already using chatbots as therapists, with the emergence of generative AI raising new questions around tech’s role in mental health, Axios’ Peter Allen Clark reports.
Why it matters: Virtually no one is suggesting you replace a compassionate human professional with a probability-driven neural network — but plenty of people seeking info or help say they appreciate the approachability (and low cost) of an onscreen text box.
What’s happening: Users are filling online forums with accounts of their experiences casting ChatGPT as their personal therapist.
- In the ChatGPT subreddit, it’s easy to findpeople offering examples of addressing trauma or attempting to improve communication skills with the tech.
- Others are sharing adviceon what kind of prompts to use and how to get the best responses in a ChatGPT therapy session.
- The low cost isn’t the only lure — users also praise the accessibility of the tech and the comfort they feelin engaging with it.
What they’re saying: “As someone who has consumed a lot of mental health services in his life, I can say that I found [ChatGPT] to be incredibly helpful, much more than many of the humans I have interacted with,” one Reddit user shared.
The other side: ChatGPT creator OpenAI’s policies say its tech is not to be used to tell “someone that they have or do not have a certain health condition, or providing instructions on how to cure or treat a health condition.”
- “OpenAI’s models are not fine-tuned to provide medical information,” the policies say.
The big picture: Platforms that offer mental health services through text, like BetterHelp, have flourished in the pandemic era. And a growing number of them are specifically offering a chatbot.
- Recent apps like Wysa, Limbicand Replika all offer users AI-driven conversations about mental health. While some cast themselves as a companion to talk therapy, others, like Replika, offer a “companion” who is “always ready to chat when you need an empathetic friend.”
- These apps’ popularity has also raised alarmsover their effectiveness and their ability to protect users’ privacy.
Meanwhile, many mental health professionals are cautioning users against replacing the personal approach of therapy with a chatbot.
- “Only a therapist can provide a personalized or customized treatment plan for you, and that takes some time and that gets actualized as you are making progress,” therapist Daniela Marin said in a YouTube video. “It won’t keep you accountable, it doesn’t care if you do or don’t do the work.”
- Licensed marriage and family therapist Emma McAdamsaid recently that ChatGPT “can never provide a supportive relationship and the motivational supportive structure of actual therapy with a real person.”
Between the lines: Generative AIs like ChatGPT have trouble distinguishing between fact and fiction, and at one point Microsoft’s Bing chatbot seemed to be displaying mental disorders of its own.
- For all the excitement, ChatGPT today is, in the words of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, “a horrible product,” and users who turn to it for therapeutic help are proceeding at their own risk.
Πηγή: axios.com