This is another in a series about the annual Techsurvey. Today we conclude with a look at artificial intelligence and how listeners feel about it. Also read our third story on the importance of metadata.
There are some clear indications from the results of this year’s Jacobs Media Techsurvey that radio listeners are giving AI-created songs the stink eye.
Techsurvey sought answers to some specific questions about AI and its use in radio and music. Fred Jacobs, Jacobs Media’s president, said on his blog that online music platforms like Spotify are already battling an authenticity issue by playing music generated by AI.
[Related: “Time for Your ‘AI or Human?’ Radio Announcement Quiz”]
But what about radio stations?
We know AI is perfectly capable of generating synthetic voices and musical creations. The latest online survey asked if participants would listen to radio stations playing AI-created music, and their answer was a resounding no.
Nearly three-fourths of the respondents indicated that hearing AI-generated music on their favorite station would be a “deal-breaker.”
Perhaps counterintuitively, Gen Z had the biggest negative response, as a whopping 81% indicated that they have a major problem with AI music.
iHeartMedia made headlines with its “Guaranteed Human” pledge and it may just be working, according to the survey earlier this year of nearly 31,000 U.S. radio listeners. Jacobs Media tested that phrase up against three other positioners and found that it resonated with six in 10 core radio listeners, according to Jacobs, especially with women.
iHeart’s Guaranteed Human messaging is being used on its podcasts and radio stations as the media company banks on listeners’ desire for human-generated music and voices.
Millennials lead GenAI adoption
But the latest Techsurvey results also showed that the adoption of AI by respondents is increasing, with nearly 30% using it weekly for things tasks at school and work; and another 32% said they use AI occasionally.
Jacobs said that, in all, AI usage has tripled within two years.
Millennials are buying in at the fastest rate at 37%, while Gen Z appears the most startled by our growing reliance on AI. The online survey asked respondents if there was “at least some alarm” over AI’s rapid growth, and the zoomers overwhelmingly, at 81%, said yes.
“Women are clearly more flipped out over AI than our men, and interestingly, younger people are as well,” Jacobs said during a recent online presentation.
Jacobs believes Gen Z is upset, in part, “because it seems like every article that’s written talks about how Gen Z is going to pay the price for AI, and all these entry level jobs are going to disappear.
(Gen Z) is reading these articles — or they’re actually feeling the actual pain of what is going on with AI, and their jobs,” Jacobs said.
Techsurvey 2026 analyzes answers from listeners of 506 commercial radio stations in the United States. Most respondents are “core radio listeners” and members of those radio station’s email databases.
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