A year after the use of AI on the air became a major discussion point for radio, three-quarters of core listeners have serious concerns about AI replacing on-air hosts, according to the 2024 Jacobs Media Techsurvey.
This is the 20th year that Jacobs has done the Techsurvey but the first time it has included questions about the use of AI in radio and in daily life.
Approximately 29,000 “core commercial radio listeners” in the U.S. and Canada were surveyed in January and February. The company calls it the world’s largest online radio survey.
The results will be released later this month but the consulting firm has released some previews.
A solid 58 percent said they are at least familiar with AI, and nearly eight out of 10 Gen Z listeners said they’re very aware.
More than seven out of 10 people, however, said they were at least “somewhat alarmed” at the speed with which AI was progressing. Every demographic subgroup shared in the concern, including 75 percent of women. A majority of respondents felt AI will have at least some negative impact on society while a mere 5 percent envisioned it will have a “very positive” impact.
By far the biggest pushback was against using cloned voices to take the place of on-air talent; 75% have major concerns with this practice. The responses were consistent across the demographics.
Chris Brunt, Jacobs Media director of AI, revenue and digital, wrote in a the AI Edge newsletter that “Americans — even Gen Zs — are leery of AI and want humans to be behind the mic.”
There was less concern expressed about stations using AI to read commercials. About one out of four respondents reported having major concerns with that. And 34% of respondents had no problem with AI being used to voice station IDs.
On a broader scale with AI-based applications, the radio fans in the survey largely felt there needed to be some government regulation of the emerging technology. More than half of those surveyed expressed concern on how AI might influence November’s U.S. election. Older respondents expressed the most fear about the upcoming election.
