I’ve been watching the rise of AI in our industry with a mixture of horror, curiosity and the occasional eye twitch.
AI is here to stay and it has its place. I get it, it’s cheaper, it’s fast, it never needs a coffee break, and it won’t call in sick (unless someone unplugs it). For straightforward, high-volume tasks it can be a helpful tool. But here’s where my professional scepticism kicks in.
Recently, a producer rang me in a right pickle. His client had insisted on using an AI voice for a radio ad campaign to “keep costs down.” But the AI voice couldn’t pronounce the brand name correctly. Oops! Cue panic. We scrambled to recast a real human (with an actual pulse and the ability to take direction), re-recorded everything, and rescued the campaign just in time. Ironically the delay and the fix probably ended up costing than if they had booked a human voice from the start.
Voices carry more than just words. A professional voice actor brings nuance, tone, and warmth and they know when to smile through a sentence, when to pause for impact, and how to hit a punchline so it actually lands. That’s not just performance; it’s emotional intelligence.
And when it comes to engagement, there’s data to back this up. We’ve seen studies that show audiences engage less with synthetic voices. Content using real human narration consistently gets more likes, shares, and longer listening times. One study found that social media videos voiced by real people had a 21% higher share rate compared to those with AI narration. People feel the difference, even if they can’t quite explain it.
AI voices often sound okay and that’s the problem. They’re not bad enough to be funny, but they’re not good enough to be memorable. They sit in that uncanny valley of “meh,” and nothing says “premium brand” like “meh,” right? Over time, I believe we’ll begin to value human performances even more. The voice of a real person will continue to matter. A voice that can laugh, breathe, improvise, react and, crucially, pronounce your brand name correctly.
So yes, AI is here. And it’s staying. But when it comes to authentic storytelling, brand identity, and making your audience actually feel something I’ll always back the humans in the booth.
Appendix: Case Studies & Sources
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