We’re witnessing a major shift in users’ knowledge and understanding of AI. Results from the Jacobs Media Techsurvey 2024 earlier this year showed that only 43% of radio listeners were unfamiliar with the technology. Seventy percent of 
listeners across the board—from Gen Z to Boomers—agreed that the rise of AI was cause for alarm.
In the six months since that survey was conducted, there has been a barrage of product releases, news stories, and advertising on AI. (Has there been a quarter-hour during Olympics television coverage that hasn’t shown CoPilot or Gemini in NBC’s advertising or content?) As the public has become more familiar with AI, they are showing what they’re comfortable with and telling tech companies where the AI guardrails need to be. Two events this year put Google in the spotlight for crossing those guardrails in two different ways.
**Don’t Rewrite History**
Google faced massive social media wrath earlier this year with historically inaccurate AI imagery. Google pulled its image-generation product and had to put its other AI launches on a slow roll to ensure accuracy. The lesson here: if a user is asking about an event—don’t make things up.
**Use AI to Enhance—Not Replace—Human Creativity**
You may have seen the Google “Dear Sydney” ad during the Olympics where a daughter needs help writing a letter to an athlete she’s a fan of. The girl’s father asks Google Gemini to compose the letter for her, not only depriving the girl of her own voice but also the chance to develop her own communication skills. Outcry ensued. Google pulled the ad.
In broadcasting, we’re seeing where the guardrails are as well. Broadcasters are beginning to embrace AI for writing copy for ads, promos, and liners. TV stations are using AI to provide real-time closed captioning, which is so important during hurricane and tornado seasons.
Some broadcast talent may be warming to licensing their likeness for specific station promotions or advertising. In Jacobs Media’s Air Talent survey (AQ6), the results of which were revealed by Fred Jacobs today at Morning Show Boot Camp, 53% of DJs would consider being part of a program like the Al Michaels AI Olympics recaps if it were offered to them. This is an evolution from a year ago when there was a general fear that AI-DJs would invade the airwaves. (If you don’t have a chance to see the results at Morning Show Boot Camp, there will be a webinar later this month with highlights of the research.)
As the broadcast industry and our audiences become more familiar with AI tools and their uses, the alarm we saw six months ago will continue to ebb, as long as the AI providers and users continue to use the technology honestly and ethically and broadcasters are upfront with our audiences about its use. It will continue to be an interesting ride.
OpenAI Has Created an AI-Text Detector
According to reports from this week, OpenAI has created a tool which can detect if text was created using ChatGPT. The tool, which is supposedly 99% accurate, sniffs for watermarks left by ChatGPT when the tool creates text documents. This news follows recent headlines of AI sniffers from audio-creator ElevenLabs and Google’s Synth-ID.
Adobe Podcast AI Launches
Content producers’ favorite creative software has new AI add-ons to optimize podcast audio. The software offers now-standard transcript features, plus has an AI-powered mic-check feature to improve audio performance regardless of the quality of mic the host is using. Adobe offers free and subscription tiers here.
Would You Let This AI ‘Drill Baby Drill?’
Hold onto your dental floss, folks! In a world-first, an AI-controlled robot dentist just completed a human procedure, leaving traditional dentists in the dust. This mechanical miracle from Perceptive performed a dental crown prep in just 15 minutes—compared to the usual two-hour ordeal! With no need for radiation-heavy X-rays, the robot uses cutting-edge 3D imaging to map out your mouth. While it’s not FDA-approved yet, brace yourself for a future where a robo-doc might fix your pearly whites faster than you can say “open wide!”
Originally published by Jacobs Media
