Australian Radio Network’s Sydney-based station CADA is facing backlash after it was revealed that one of its weekday shows—Workdays with Thy—was hosted not by a real person, but by an AI-generated voice. Listeners had no idea they were tuning in to a bot.

Thy, the supposed host, aired Monday through Friday, introducing songs and chatting casually like any other presenter. The show was promoted on CADA’s official website as:

“Curated by our music experts, these are the songs that are charting or on the cusp of blowing up — hear it first with Thy so you can boast to your friends and say you were all over it first.”

What listeners didn’t know was that Thy didn’t exist. She was created by a company called ElvenLabs using voice-cloning software.

The deception came to light when Sydney-based writer Stephanie Coombes began digging for more info, asking questions like:

“What’s Thy’s last name? Who is she? Where did she come from?”
"There is no biography, or further information about the woman who is supposedly presenting this show."

As her investigation gained traction, ARN Media—CADA’s parent company—came clean and confirmed that Thy was, in fact, AI-generated. They also admitted she was modeled after someone from their finance department. (An honor, perhaps? Hopefully that employee gets royalties—or at least a raise.)

Fans of Workdays with Thy aren’t thrilled. Many have taken to social media to express their frustration over being duped by what they thought was a real person.

🧐 "Did you tune into Aussie radio station CADA's DJ Thy? Surprise, you've been listening to an AI! For months, AI has been spinning tracks and no one noticed. Let's discuss the implications of AI in our day-to-day lives. How does this reflect on future of AI and its potential in pic.twitter.com/iYosVrmvXG

— Afritab (@Afritab) April 27, 2025

ICYMI the creation of "Thy" as an unlabelled AI generated radio host of a daily 4 hour hiphop show by CADA is a disturbing attack on the arts and radio.

Why on earth are we letting AI do roles that many young (and not so young!) people would be so keen to do!? pic.twitter.com/EBuucYo0jw

— David Shoebridge (@DavidShoebridge) April 24, 2025

[via globalnews]