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Replacing the DJ: Virtual Personality Technology Radio
- Thread starter joshzz
- Start date
I'm no programmer, but unless something miraculous has dawned in the past year, the only thing I can think of that would classify as a 'Computer Personality' would text-to-speech (TTS) technology. Never mind your listeners; imagine yourself listening to a GPS-like 'voice' delivering your station liners and 'reading' promotional copy.
As it is text-to-speech, everything you want your 'personality' to say would have to be written ahead of time. Not only that, but a big part of what makes human speech so enjoyable to listen to is that emphasis on the proper words and syllables, the ability to suddenly speak louder or softer, add any kind of true emotion is automatic and/or spontaneous... two things a robot just isn't capable of doing just yet. So, for example, a spur of the moment bit of real humor sparked by something relevant that just entered the mind of a living, breathing, thinking person would not be possible.
This would sterilize radio like nothing before it, giving listeners even more reason to forego radio in favor of iPods or other forms of personal media. I certainly would... in a heartbeat, if I heard something like that being broadcast. 'Personal' is the key word.
Thems my two cents.
As it is text-to-speech, everything you want your 'personality' to say would have to be written ahead of time. Not only that, but a big part of what makes human speech so enjoyable to listen to is that emphasis on the proper words and syllables, the ability to suddenly speak louder or softer, add any kind of true emotion is automatic and/or spontaneous... two things a robot just isn't capable of doing just yet. So, for example, a spur of the moment bit of real humor sparked by something relevant that just entered the mind of a living, breathing, thinking person would not be possible.
This would sterilize radio like nothing before it, giving listeners even more reason to forego radio in favor of iPods or other forms of personal media. I certainly would... in a heartbeat, if I heard something like that being broadcast. 'Personal' is the key word.
Thems my two cents.
Hee's the info on the virtual artificial dj
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/domini...worlds-first-artificial-intelligent-radio-dj/
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/domini...worlds-first-artificial-intelligent-radio-dj/
That linked article provided a link to a site where I was able to listen to the (obviously) artificial female DJ. Yep, it's assembling samples on-the-fly, just the way I thought it would sound. Instead of having a fluidly melodic sound (like human speech), it's basically 'flat,' but the pitch rises and falls in steps. Also, the length of various syllables is unnatural. Some words sound as if they've been time-compressed; others do not. To my ears, it's obviously not human, and is disappointing to listen to.
The linked article also provided a link to the station apparently using it. When I listened to that, it wasn't the robotic female voice but a male who had even less speech dynamics; he sounded completely flat, yet spoke very quickly. It didn't sound as though samples were being assembled on-the-fly in this case, but it certainly wasn't very engaging to listen to, either.
The linked article also provided a link to the station apparently using it. When I listened to that, it wasn't the robotic female voice but a male who had even less speech dynamics; he sounded completely flat, yet spoke very quickly. It didn't sound as though samples were being assembled on-the-fly in this case, but it certainly wasn't very engaging to listen to, either.
Business people have said, and are doing, replacing workers on the shop floor in factories with automation, so why would radio be any different.
I have had this battle on the Philadelphia board. Some have said "it's just basic business practice", and they are the people that are destroying business in the country.
There are two kinds of people, the people that think they know business and the people that know THE business. The people that think they know business but do not know THE business are the ones that do not care a damn about music. They have no passion, no love for music, radio is just an investment, it's money to be made, and they don't care about how many stations they gobble up, replace the on-air personalities with automation, play the same crap in the same rotatio and getting their payola for playing the same corporate created crap.
And once they see their profits take a dip, because the listeners are tuning out, they will sell them off, one by one, or try flipping the format, or go genre to genre, and if they think playing four hours of hare krishna's chanting will make them money, they don't care, because it's all about making the money then getting out. that is why I have huge respect for the independent sations, and the owners who love what is being played.
Sure, their profits are not huge, but they are making money, and yes, making money and playing the music they love, which is not a bad combination, which is why they bought a station in the first place, because they see the corporations destroying the music they love, and replacing it with a bunch of cookie cutter corporate created personalities turning out a bunch of corporate created cookie cutter created tunes.
I have had this battle on the Philadelphia board. Some have said "it's just basic business practice", and they are the people that are destroying business in the country.
There are two kinds of people, the people that think they know business and the people that know THE business. The people that think they know business but do not know THE business are the ones that do not care a damn about music. They have no passion, no love for music, radio is just an investment, it's money to be made, and they don't care about how many stations they gobble up, replace the on-air personalities with automation, play the same crap in the same rotatio and getting their payola for playing the same corporate created crap.
And once they see their profits take a dip, because the listeners are tuning out, they will sell them off, one by one, or try flipping the format, or go genre to genre, and if they think playing four hours of hare krishna's chanting will make them money, they don't care, because it's all about making the money then getting out. that is why I have huge respect for the independent sations, and the owners who love what is being played.
Sure, their profits are not huge, but they are making money, and yes, making money and playing the music they love, which is not a bad combination, which is why they bought a station in the first place, because they see the corporations destroying the music they love, and replacing it with a bunch of cookie cutter corporate created personalities turning out a bunch of corporate created cookie cutter created tunes.
NO jock is better than the current synthetic options... maybe one day, but not today!
NightAire said:
No DJ at a station is like playing an ipod at a Wedding into a sound system, it's impersonal, cold and empty. The reason the young people today don't really know the difference is because they were not raised during the era of the Jock who made you laugh, great delivery, great voice, they made you feel like they were talking to only you. They were an important part of your day, whether at work listening, or when you came home from school.The stations today, if they still have them, want the Jocks to talk less and play more, you know why? because if they add style, flavor to their broadcast, they might become popular, and a popular DJ costs money to keep.
I could not agree more with 'doowopvault.' If we could get people in the 'Wayback' machine and let them experience what many of us did, even in the smallest of markets, they may want a major change. This, even in our era of 'I want it MY way, and I want it NOW.'
In this age of having 5,000 Facebook friends, but not knowing (or caring to know) your next-door-neighbor, ironically people are far less connected than ever before. That bodes serious consequences for both our short-term and long-term future as a society and as a species.
BTW, that personality DJ reminded us that we're human, and we're all in this together.
I could say far more, but I'll let y'all do that for me.
In this age of having 5,000 Facebook friends, but not knowing (or caring to know) your next-door-neighbor, ironically people are far less connected than ever before. That bodes serious consequences for both our short-term and long-term future as a society and as a species.
BTW, that personality DJ reminded us that we're human, and we're all in this together.
I could say far more, but I'll let y'all do that for me.
Agreed completely. On all points.
Well said, Greg, and thank you for doing so.
Well said, Greg, and thank you for doing so.
I don't disagree with your points on personality jocks, but honestly: would you rather listen to this synthetic voice spewing information or have no DJ at all?
(A real personality is NOT an option in this question!!!)
Does this pseudo-jock add anything positive to a station?
(A real personality is NOT an option in this question!!!)
Does this pseudo-jock add anything positive to a station?
N
nightfly61
Guest
I'd rather hear a voice tracked assortment of zoo & barnyard animal voices announcing liners & titles. At least they're alive! Would give all new meaning to a "Morning Zoo"! ;D
I definitely have to disagree with the contention that this is the same, and just as business-savvy, as "replacing jobs on the factory floor with robots."
Workers on the factory floor are SUPPOSED to produce cookie-cutter homogenous results, and if they put personality into their work and give it flavor, they are fired even if they can't be replaced with a robot, because their flavor of parts probably won't fit into the machine they are supposed to be building, or their unique style of box-closing will make end consumers think that the "weird" package of wheat thins they bought has been tampered with. For that sort of purpose, machines actually tend to make more sense than humans, especially since they are usually also capable of completing the same task much faster.
Neither of those advantages is at all applicable in the case of a radio DJ. (Well, perhaps time efficiency could be, if you were able to use the same "auto-DJ" to host 100 stations at once, but that's only likely to be possible with internet stations, and then REALLY what does it add over an ipod or other non-hosted internet stream?)
Workers on the factory floor are SUPPOSED to produce cookie-cutter homogenous results, and if they put personality into their work and give it flavor, they are fired even if they can't be replaced with a robot, because their flavor of parts probably won't fit into the machine they are supposed to be building, or their unique style of box-closing will make end consumers think that the "weird" package of wheat thins they bought has been tampered with. For that sort of purpose, machines actually tend to make more sense than humans, especially since they are usually also capable of completing the same task much faster.
Neither of those advantages is at all applicable in the case of a radio DJ. (Well, perhaps time efficiency could be, if you were able to use the same "auto-DJ" to host 100 stations at once, but that's only likely to be possible with internet stations, and then REALLY what does it add over an ipod or other non-hosted internet stream?)
N
nightfly61
Guest
"The virtual voice is broke! Gotta fill in for the robot a couple hours! Then I would proceed to speak like a robot so the listeners wouldn't "get used to" the lifelike sound.
Someone is offering a service to front-announce and back-announce the music they supply with a female voice that sounds animated. WXMA 102.3 in Louisville, KY uses it, even with live jocks. It makes me cringe.
B
Bob1370
Guest
Bottom line? A mechanized voice, like a voicetracked/pre-recorded station, sounds dull, lifeless and a waste of time, which is why voicetracked dayparts always do poorly against live programming in any market.
Bob1370 said:
Not true.
I had a station with a contemporary format in a top 15 market that was 100% voicetracked way back in the 70's. There were about 30 competitors, and we were far ahead of anyone... in one book, we had a 30.5 share with the next closest music station around a 10 share (also voicetracked).
Quote from: Bob1370 on March 24, 2012, 04:41:44 PM
Quote from: DavidEduardo on: March 24, 2012, 08:06:40 PM
I was about to say! What makes for dull, lifeless, and "waste of time" voicetracked stations is what the Program Director will let the voicetrackers do. Are they stuck reading liner cards, or are they allowed to get creative and present personality? (In their defense, many PD's hands are tied by supervisors often many, many steps up the chain.)
Saying "voicetracked stations are dull, lifeless and a waste of time" is the same as saying we shouldn't watch (or enjoy) Casablanca, Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin), or Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau).
...After all, these movies are ALL pre-recorded... in fact, they are VERY old fashioned: none of them have been updated at all in at least seventy years!
--
As somebody smarter than me once said, "it's the content, stupid..." NOT whether it is live or pre-recorded.
Quote from: DavidEduardo on: March 24, 2012, 08:06:40 PM
I was about to say! What makes for dull, lifeless, and "waste of time" voicetracked stations is what the Program Director will let the voicetrackers do. Are they stuck reading liner cards, or are they allowed to get creative and present personality? (In their defense, many PD's hands are tied by supervisors often many, many steps up the chain.)
Saying "voicetracked stations are dull, lifeless and a waste of time" is the same as saying we shouldn't watch (or enjoy) Casablanca, Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin), or Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau).
...After all, these movies are ALL pre-recorded... in fact, they are VERY old fashioned: none of them have been updated at all in at least seventy years!
--
As somebody smarter than me once said, "it's the content, stupid..." NOT whether it is live or pre-recorded.
B
bigrobmjca
Guest
I work overnights trying to climb up the ladder to be replaced by a computer with no soul?
That's about the long and the short of it, for many people. It doesn't HAVE to happen, but the available jobs live on the air are falling like a rock and have been for more than a decade.
Keep in mind: one alternative is to become the programmer who maintains that "computer with no soul." Just a thought...
Keep in mind: one alternative is to become the programmer who maintains that "computer with no soul." Just a thought...
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