By Holland Cooke
Consultant
Every radio conference agenda and much of what’s-up in the trade press and chat groups is about exploiting Artificial Intelligence. Often these conversations land in one of two places: fear (“Will this replace us?”) or fascination (“Look what it can do!”). Both miss the point.
In “Between You and AI” (Wiley) author Andrea Iorio cautions that when everyone has access to the same machine intelligence, advantage shifts to what remains scarce. That’s not just-more information. It’s better judgment, trust, empathy, and local savvy… the very things radio has always done best.
Haven’t got time to read all 254 pages? Here’s a short version, as it applies to our work:
- AI is brilliant at summarizing, predicting, transcribing, drafting, and optimizing. Radio should absolutely use it to handle the mechanical work that clogs calendars and burns out staff. Show prep summaries. Promo copy drafts. Sales proposal outlines. Post-show highlights. Let the machine chew through that.
- But here’s where radio wins: what to ask, what to emphasize, what to leave out, and how to make people feel. AI can’t do those things without human direction, interpretation, and accountability.
- For a morning show: AI can surface trending topics in seconds. But it can’t know which story resonates here,today, with this audience – nor when silence, humor, or restraint is the smarter move. That’s human sensemaking. The book calls it “data sensemaking”; radio people have always called it “knowing our market.”
- News/talk: AI can summarize a city council meeting neatly. It cannot decide which exchange actually matters to listeners’ lives, nor ask the follow-up question that reframes the issue.
- Sales teams, too, are at a crossroads. AI can generate a competent proposal in seconds. So can your competitor. What it can’t do is replace the trust built when a seller truly understands a retailer’s risk tolerance, cash flow anxiety, and seasonal pressure points. As AI makes “good enough” ubiquitous, relationship quality becomes the differentiator.
- In an AI-saturated media environment, audiences won’t reward whoever publishes the most. They’ll reward whoever feels the most real. Trust will matter more than tone. Judgment more than speed. Presence more than precision.
AI is not radio’s replacement. It’s radio’s stress test. Stations that pass will be the ones that let machines handle the work so humans can handle the meaning.
Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn