Online Reporter
Obey Moyo
Zimpapers Entertainment Correspondent
RADIO has always been more than just sound on the airwaves.
It’s the voice of conversation, imagination and connection.
It reaches people in ways the eye cannot.
You can ignore a screen, but the ear never looks away.
Even though radio is everywhere, we often take it for granted.
It’s part of our daily lives whether we realise it or not.
This year, World Radio Day came under the theme “Radio and Artificial Intelligence”, raising the big question: is AI a threat to radio, or a tool that can make it better?
AI is strange necessary, powerful, and sometimes intimidating.
But radio itself is tradition powered by technology.
Broadcasters say AI isn’t the enemy; it’s a tool that can make radio more creative, efficient, and competitive, especially in Africa’s fast-moving digital landscape.
Power FM station manager, Leander Kandiero, said radio has always evolved with technology.
“AI will make some parts of radio easier,” he said. “It’s here to help us. Some people worry, but others are already using it.”
Kandiero, who once set a record for broadcasting 24 hours straight, urged colleagues to embrace AI.
“We can’t go back,” he said.
“We need to use AI to improve what we already do, not fear it.”
Radio has survived many technological shifts since Guglielmo Marconi invented it in 1894.
From analogue to digital, from FM to online streaming, it keeps adapting and so can we.
Takawira Dururu of ZBC said radio is popular because it’s simple and flexible.
“You can listen while cooking, walking, driving, or even working,” he said.
“During floods or other disasters, radio warns people in time AI just makes that faster.”
Today, radio isn’t limited to a traditional set.
You can listen on phones, TVs, computers, or online through platforms like Radio Garden, which lets you tune into stations anywhere in the world.
But AI also comes with worries.
Journalism student Kundiso Yesaya from Harare Polytechnic warned that tools like voice cloning could threaten the human touch that makes radio special.
“AI could replace real radio talent,” Yesaya said. “That authenticity is what listeners connect with.”
Some broadcasters are quick to adapt, others take their time.
But AI isn’t slowing down and neither is radio.
In the end, AI isn’t the enemy of radio people who resist change might be.
It can help radio evolve without losing what makes it special: its human voice, its immediacy, and its ability to connect.
The trick is balance using AI smartly, without letting it replace the warmth and authenticity that have kept radio alive for over a century.
Mathew Masinge