ARN Media has now confirmed the sacking of radio host Kyle Sandilands, who follows his co-presenter Jackie O Henderson out the door.
ARN Media signed a ten year contract with the duo in 2023. The contract is worth approximately $10 million each per year.
ChatGPT appeared in November 2022, shortly before the contract was signed. Audio and video generated by artificial intelligence only started to be appreciated from 2024, shortly after ARN had signed the contract.
The current generation of artificial intelligence is probably not really capable of replacing Kyle and Jackie O right now. ARN Media may be anticipating that within two or three years, artificial intelligence will exceed the work of authentic humans on a radio show. Rather than waiting for that technology to arrive, it appears management have decided to sack the duo pre-emptively based on a minor on-air feud that occurred in February.
The sacking is not about censorship. ARN Media was very keen for Kyle and Jackie O to continue broadcasting the same type of content that makes so much money for them in the short term.
Read more about artificial intelligence.