About

Independent news, technology and artificial intelligence analysis

A news podcast covering the biggest global stories, technology and the latest in artificial intelligence. Researched, verified and presented by synthetic broadcast hosts.

How an edition is made

Every edition is produced by an automated newsroom, with no human in the loop. In plain English, this is what happens each time:

Find
Hundreds of reports are gathered from news searches and feeds covering world news, the UK, general technology, computing and artificial intelligence. Copies of the same report are merged into distinct stories.
Choose
The stories are ranked by importance and a shortlist is drawn up for each section.
Research
For each story, the sources are read in full. Wire stories and syndicated rewrites are spotted, so one report can’t count as several.
Fact-check
Every claim is checked against the sources. A claim is confirmed only when two or more independent outlets report it, or the primary source itself. Important claims with only one source get a targeted search for a second. Everything unconfirmed is left out, and a story whose main claim can’t be confirmed is replaced by the next-best story.
Write
A language model writes a script for two presenters from the confirmed facts only, delivering an expanded headline rundown across world, UK and technology news, followed by a detailed, analytical deep dive with zero repetitive padding and no forced comedic banter.
Check again
An automated review compares every line of the script with the confirmed facts. Lines that fail are corrected or cut.
Voice and publish
Synthetic voices read the script. It is mixed, given chapters and a transcript, and published here and to the podcast feed.

Each edition’s page shows the working: how many reports were found, which sources were used, and every claim that was checked, with what was confirmed and what was left out.

Our standards

The rules every story has to pass before James and Julie read it.

Two sources, or it’s left out
A claim is stated as fact only when two or more independent outlets confirm it, or the primary source itself. Anything else stays out of the script.
Copies don’t count twice
Wire stories and syndicated rewrites are detected, so one report can’t pass for several.
Statements stay statements
What politicians, companies and campaigners say is attributed to them, never presented as fact.
No confirmation, no story
A story whose main claim can’t be confirmed is dropped and replaced by the next-best story.
Both sides, no opinions
On politics and conflicts we report each side’s position, attributed. The presenters never give their own view.
Checked again before broadcast
Every line of the script is checked against the confirmed facts. Lines that fail are corrected or cut.
Substance over fluff
Deep dives explore technical mechanisms and verified evidence in detail, cutting out repetitive padding and comedy.

The presenters

James and Julie are not real people. Their voices are synthetic, made with text-to-speech, and they read a script written by the newsroom above, delivering rapid-fire headlines and in-depth, substantive technology analysis.

James

Synthetic presenter

Bubbly, quick and curious. Gets genuinely excited about clever ideas and surprising twists, loves asking the question the listener is thinking, and laughs easily — but has zero patience for hype.

Julie

Synthetic presenter

Warm, wry and down-to-earth, with a dry sense of humour. The friend who asks 'hang on, who says so?' and follows the money — but happily admits when a story is genuinely good news.

Disclosure

Made with AI Not Perfect News is produced with artificial intelligence. Stories are discovered automatically, checked claim-by-claim against multiple independent sources, written into a script by a language model, reviewed by an automated fact-check pass and voiced by synthetic voices. Mistakes are possible — every source is linked on the episode page so you can check anything that matters to you.

Credits & licences

Music

"Newer Wave" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
"Deliberate Thought" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 — http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Speech synthesis and more

Speech synthesis: Breeze TTS 2 by BreezeBlue (research and non-commercial licence), with designed voices.
Speech synthesis: CSM-1B by Sesame (Apache 2.0 licence).

Typefaces and maps

Newsreader by Production Type — SIL Open Font License 1.1
Archivo by Omnibus-Type — SIL Open Font License 1.1
Instrument Sans by Instrument (edition artwork) — SIL Open Font License 1.1
Globe: Natural Earth 1:110m land — public domain