As generative AI proliferates, it’s starting to find its way into the ads we hear on podcasts and radio.
Start up adthos this week launched a platform that uses AI to generate scripts for audio ads and even add voiceovers, sound effects and music. Clients can optionally enter and edit ads using a browser-based multitrack editor, resulting in a “fully produced” ad that can be played through integrations with radio automation systems and ad servers.
Adthos CEO Raoul Wedel presents the platform as a way to advertisers to “efficient self-serve” and produce high-audio ads “instantly”, and for publishers to “support long-tail revenue streams” by creating self-serve ad buying platforms.
“The real game changer is that a small advertiser can run a high-quality ad in a minute or two,” Wedel said, noting the potential for localization and personalization.
But the platform, like many that embrace generative AI technology, raises ethical questions.
The Adthos platform is made up of a combination of internal technology and third-party APIs. To generate ad scripts, Adthos takes advantage of the GPT-4 text production model recently released by OpenAI. And on the voice side, Adthos compiled a library of hundreds of synthetic voices, including, according to Wedel, “Emmy Award-winning” actors and voice talent.
Wedel says the voice actors are “fully aware” of the platform and have paid a flat fee or license fee for the use of their voice, depending on their preference. “Adthos has already paid hundreds of thousands in royalties to the voice actors,” he added.
But what’s unclear is whether all those voice actors chose to be included in the Adthos library in the first place.
Vice recently reported that actors are asked to sign over the rights to their voices so clients can use AI to generate synthetic versions that could eventually replace them. Contract language tends to be ambiguous, voice actors say, with some actors reportedly being told they cannot be hired without agreeing to clauses granting the rights to use their voices for synthetic training.
Image Credits: adthos
Wedel did not disclose the contractual terms of the Adthos arrangements. But he reaffirmed that the voice actors on the platform have signed consent and license agreements.
“We use real-life voice actors for synthetic voice training. We train and select them based on our experience in markets and creating ads,” Wedel said. “We have created our own training data sets and recording software for talent to record their voice.”
Wedel added that actors have some control over how their voices are used on the platform, such as the option to opt out of their use in certain ad categories, such as religious or political ads.
Asked what steps Adthos takes to moderate content generated by its platform, Wedel said it leaves the job of reviewing ads before they’re finalized and passed on to clients and publishers.
Generative AI, particularly AI that generates text, tends to go off the rails. For example, ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI-powered chatbot, has been found to fabricate facts and reinforce ethnic and gender stereotypes. If an Adthos client were to fully automate the ad generation process, they could risk producing ads that are toxic, offensive, and ultimately harmful—an undesirable outcome for any brand, to be sure.
Wedel points out that OpenAI does some filtering at the API level. But, acknowledging that this alone isn’t perhaps enough, he says Adthos plans to add content moderation “as the platform develops,” including rules about words or terms that can’t be used in ads.
“It’s up to the publisher to have a human being in the know,” Wedel said. “But we do have specific requirements, like disclosing the AI nature of the ads and only using voiceover talent with their consent.”
In any case, Adthos claims to have a number of paying clients, including Dutch media conglomerate Talpa, and advertisers and agencies such as GroupM, Dentsu and Sportradar.
I asked Wedel bluntly if he was concerned that the Adthos platform could cost jobs to advertising and marketing companies and agencies. He quoted Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, who said it was a “conscious decision” to start conversations in society early about what’s next when it comes to AI.
“It will certainly cause job losses. But the people who prepare and adopt AI will thrive and be more productive,” Wedel said. “Those who don’t will be the ones who will lose their jobs.”
