From chaos to clarity: 4 things to know about AI audio in Australia (and beyond)

“We’re at an exciting time for audio, bigger audiences, more advertising opportunities, and AI unlocking creative possibilities we’ve never dreamed of. With this new tech, we can now deliver audio that’s more effective than ever.” - Aaron Matthews, Founder & Head of Creative, Original Audio

In July 2025, AudioStack, Original Audio and IAB Australia held a one-of-a-kind series of events uniting some of the leading lights across AI, audio and advertising in Australia.

Why?

Because with one of the most tuned-in populations in the world, audio rules in Australia. And that means that advertisers have more to gain from AI audio than almost anywhere else in the world.

Of course, when it comes to AI, there’s a big gap between what is said to be possible, and what is actually happening for major media producers. A gap that only reassurance, proof and credibility can fill.

That’s why we united the region’s most trusted figures in the space to talk through the pathways that businesses can take to go from chaos to clarity in an AI-powered audio future.

So, if you couldn’t make it, here’s the key takeaways.

1. Australia’s appetite for innovation makes it a perfect test-bed for AI audio.

As any major CPG vendor will tell you, what tests well in Australia, will often roll-out successfully worldwide.

But what you might not know is that the same goes for audio. It’s a fact that:

1. An average of 77% of Australians will have tuned in to online audio the past week

2. Commercial radio reaches 81% of Australians (27% higher than the equivalent number in the USA). N

3. Audio is the second most-engaged channel in the country, just behind social media.

And what cements this appetite for innovation is that, despite audio universally gaining popularity – from podcast listenership to radio streaming through smart assistants – global ad spend on the medium isn’t catching up to the pace of growth: except in Australia.

That willingness to put audio front and centre of the media mix is why we have seen global brands launch innovative campaigns with AI audio first in Australia:- such as News Corp turning its articles into podcast ads.

• Want to learn more about innovative audio campaigns and why Australia is the perfect test-bed for AI Audio? Read our full ‘AI Audio in Australia’ analysis here.

2. Dynamic audio has existed for a while, but it hasn’t had its moment in Australia — until now.

Dynamic audio advertising isn’t new. But it is hard to achieve at scale with the typical production barriers that studio-based audio production presents.

Script, voice, production and delivery – a process for single spot creation that usually takes 5-14 days – takes even longer and costs even more when versioning is involved.

That means that for big brands and agencies that need to produce personalized, relevant creative at scale, audio is overlooked for other ‘traditional’ dynamic marketing channels (such as email, in-app or PPC). 

It’s the main reason audio fails to get into the media mix.

But with faster-moving, AI-powered tech, the lead time for audio production (with all elements streamlined into a single, automated workflow) is reduced drastically. In some cases, as much as 99%.

With a reimagined production workflow, the opportunity for audio finally becomes much clearer.

• Advertisers can now streamline versioning with AI, achieving 10,000 asset-strong audio ad activations in a tenth of the time: even incorporating automated data-to-creative workflows that turn sales data into hyper-reactive dynamic audio ads.

• Listeners are targeted with ads based on much more effective, actionable and contextually-relevant criteria – such as a podcast ad advertising a shop to drop into on their commute, or a smart assistant ad for personalized dinner recipes after work.

In other words, AI unlocks the economy of scale for audio production: but at the same time, it also allows dynamic creative to be served in a much more targeted, data-driven and omnichannel way.

Quantity and quality.

• Read some more inspiring omnichannel campaign examples here!

3. There are still common misconceptions around AI audio…

If two questions came up from attendees at the panels more so than any other, they were as simple as:

1. Is AI audio good enough to replace studio production?

2. Is AI audio ethical and safe to use?

Replace ‘audio’ with any other AI creative solution (image generation, text generation), and you’ve heard the questions before – and with good reason. AI represents a risk both legally and in reputation if corners are cut – even in a ‘light-touch’ regulatory environment like that in Australia.

So let’s answer them quickly here.

On AI audio quality:

AI audio has reached a stage where it is functionally indistinguishable from content voiced by a human in a studio. And it is being used by brands as large as McDonald’s and Handelsblatt (Germany's largest financial publication).

However, this isn’t universal. To sound natural to a level advertisers and broadcasters expect, AI audio requires standardization of all elements – voice, sound beds, production elements – which can only be delivered at scale and speed with an end-to-end audio production infrastructure.

On AI audio safety:

AI audio is safe if the provider is reputable. If a media producer wants to buy AI as a managed service, or self-serve AI audio, they can expect to outsource these ethical and legal considerations to the vendor: which makes partner selection critically important.

• Have questions about safely generating AI audio? Here are your answers to some of the most common ones!

4. The Australian industry deeply values responsible AI.

Last of all, our Chaos to Clarity panelists – who represent leaders within media production – all see the long-term value of AI audio to change workflows and media production.

And while cost-cutting is one of AI audio’s biggest sellables, it’s excitement around productivity and new creative possibilities that signalled that AI audio is here to stay.

So, media producers will have to work productively with regulators to create a safe, transparent landscape for advertising. Fortunately, that’s a space where industry bodies, represented at the panel by IAB Australia, are working to build a pro-growth, pro-responsibility environment for innovation with AI audio.

Interested in learning more about the AI audio transformation taking off in Australia? Read our AI Transformation Whitepaper.

We would like to extend our thanks to all attendees, hosts and the following panelists.

Aaron Matthews, Founder & Creative Director at Original Audio

Gai Le Roy, CEO at IAB Australia

Kym Treasure, CEO at Audacia Audio

Joshua Lee, Managing Director APAC at ArtBot

Idan Schmorak, GM APAC & MENA at AudioStack