There was a shock for legendary RTÉ broadcaster Anne Doyle on the Ray D'Arcy Show on RTÉ Radio 1 on Monday when she heard from the AI version of Anne Doyle.
"We've been following AI on the show - particularly what they can do with voice," said host D'Arcy.
"You coming in, and your voice being part of Ireland, I suppose - part of the tapestry of Ireland because you read the news for so long..."
"Frightening the children you mean!" said Doyle, who signed off from RTÉ's Nine O'Clock News on Christmas Day in 2011.
"I thought, 'What could AI do with Anne Doyle's voice?'" D'Arcy continued.
"And if they could do a good job, could we bring you back? Could we have you reading the news every day - with your permission and the permission of the people above?!"
"Oh, go ahead - and I'll be at home meanwhile!" Doyle replied.
When the results were played, the RTÉ News stalwart was stunned.
"Oh my Lord!" she said. "What about that?!"
"You should copyright your voice - that's what people are doing now," D'Arcy explained.
"Are you serious?" asked Doyle.
She then said it was "beginning to dawn even on this Luddite" that AI is "extremely important".
"It's quite startling - that's what you were at this morning when you should have been out running!" Doyle laughed.
She was appearing on the show in her role as a judge for the Westmeath Bachelor Festival on Saturday 29 July at the Mullingar Arts Centre.
"Our Westmeath bachelors - they will be absolutely real!" she promised.
"And Louis Walsh and Pippa O'Connor and Brian Ormond and I will be there to check them out! There'll be no virtual anything!"
The Ray D'Arcy Show, weekdays, RTÉ Radio 1, 3:00pm
