This Podcast Has Hosts, Jokes, and Expert Guests. It's All AI-Generated

AI Radio is a new show on Spotify. Its hosts cover everything from sex to the latest developments in tech, they joke and go on tangents, and interview experts on the topics being discussed. But there's a catch: the show's hosts aren't real. The experts aren't real either. They're all AI. 

AI Radio is hosted by two chatbots named Bella and Adam. So far, the show has two episodes. Bella and Adam talk about current events that sound nonsensical but are actually true, such as discussing Google’s new web toy where you can make colorful blobs sing opera.

“I’m telling you Bella, this is going to be the next big thing, it’ll be a complete game changer and increase Google stock price doublefold,” AI co-host Adam says in the second episode of AI Radio. “Just think of it, people will flock to this new technology and create their own little singing blob a family, it’ll go viral.” 

In another more risqué segment, the AI hosts discuss the question of “whether vaginas feel tighter or looser depending on how deep you go.” 

“According to the information we have, it seems that they can feel pretty much the same all the way through,” says Bella in generated voice that convincingly mimics the style of NPR broadcasts. “But what about anal? That’s gotta be different right,” replies Adam. “Right,” answers Bella, “anal is significantly tighter at the entrance, and then less so deeper in.”

The show's creator is a Redditor who goes by "bemmu." They posted about the project on the forum, and many users were intrigued by this show and have started to follow it as more episodes are released. “This is insane work, well done,” said Reddit user dlrwtllktgrtt. “I can’t believe that those voices aren’t real humans. The changes in time and inflection and volume…. It’s mind boggling,” said Reddit user Rubmaweiner. “This is amazing. Already subbed on spotify!” said user YaAbsolyutnoNikto. 

The show is just the latest use of machine-learning programs to generate content that previously would be made by people. ChatGPT has been used to pass medical license tests, write corporate lobbyist letters, and even power the never-ending Twitch stream of a machine-generated “Seinfeld” parody called “Nothing Forever.” While believers in the technology see the future of the entertainment industry in AI-generated outputs, others see a war against the workers who today make that content. 

Bemmu had the AI bots talk for about an hour and then edited the best segments to get a 15-minute episode, they wrote in a comment. “Prompting was pretty easy, just have to include a lot of reminders for them to follow the given format. I also gave up trying to tell it not to include things like *smirk* etc. and just remove them in code instead,” they said. 

The software running the radio show is able to invent fake news stories (or cover real ones based on title), interview fake experts, talk about topics found on Reddit and Hacker News, and can also answer questions provided by readers or invent its own, according to AI Radio’s episode description. 

Bemmu seems to be aware of the possible risks of leaving the content entirely up to AI systems,  which tend to generate false information, replicate racist and sexist biases and often cross the boundaries of what’s acceptable. At the beginning of each episode, co-host Adam says, “Even though we may sound human, we aren’t. Some of the content in this show may not be suitable for all audiences, so don’t be surprised if something comes up that is a bit too risqué for your liking.” 

“A lot of what we talk about here is made up or exaggerated for comedic effect, so take it with a grain of salt,” co-host Bella responds. 

AI, when unmoderated or unfiltered, often leaks biases that reflect the data that it was trained on. For example, "Nothing, Forever" was banned for 14 days after the AI Jerry Seinfeld clone made transphobic comments during a standup scene, only a few days after it had gone viral. So far, the most risqué aspects of AI Radio are about sex, and fairly innocuous. 

“One thing is certain, orgasms in the morning are always a great way to start your day off right,” Bella said.