AI-Generated Podcasts: The Future of Audio Storytelling?
As AI continues to reshape the industry, we take a look at the balance between innovation and preserving the unique elements that make podcasts special.
Join us as we navigate this new landscape and consider the implications of AI-generated content on creativity and diversity of thought
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Transcript
Okay, so have you heard about this new AI tool, NotebookLM, fro
Speaker:Google? Apparently you can make a
Speaker:whole podcast, like with two hosts
Speaker:in just a few hours.
Speaker:Wow. So not just like generating show notes or something?
Speaker:No, like a full on audio experience with distinct AI personalities
Speaker:and everything. Kind of wild, right?
Speaker:It is pretty wild when you think about it. It's like, what does
Speaker:it even mean to be a host in the
Speaker:age of AI, right?
Speaker:And it's not just theoretical either. This article I was reading,
Speaker:the author actually used notebook LM
Speaker:to make a whole podcast called be
Speaker:a better podcaster.
Speaker:Oh, wow, talk about meta. A podcast about podcasting made by
Speaker:a podcasting AI.
Speaker:Exactly. It's like this weird AI inception thing, but it kind of
Speaker:makes you think this could really
Speaker:shake things up in the podcasting
Speaker:world.
Speaker:For sure. I mean, not everyone has a fancy studio or knows how to
Speaker:use all the editing software. This
Speaker:could be huge for people who want
Speaker:to share their stories but find the
Speaker:whole podcasting thing intimidating,
Speaker:like a total game changer.
Speaker:But how does it even work? You just like feed it information and
Speaker:it spits out a podcast.
Speaker:Pretty much. Say you find a really interesting article and you
Speaker:think this would make a great conversation,
Speaker:which, let's be honest, is.
Speaker:How I get ideas for about half of our deep dives.
Speaker:Well, there you go. So you upload the article to notebook LM,
Speaker:select the audio interview option,
Speaker:and boom. The AI takes over and creates
Speaker:a whole conversation based on that
Speaker:content.
Speaker:No more spending hours editing out my rambling tangents. I'm sold.
Speaker:But really, how realistic does it
Speaker:actually sound? Like? Would people
Speaker:actually believe it's two real people
Speaker:having a conversation?
Speaker:Well, according to the article, it's surprisingly convincing.
Speaker:You know, AI speech synthesis has come
Speaker:a long way even in the last couple
Speaker:of years.
Speaker:True, Siri doesn't sound quite as robotic as she used to.
Speaker:Exactly. And apparently notebook LM is even better. It tries
Speaker:to capture those nuances of human
Speaker:conversation, like intonation and
Speaker:pacing. Although the article did
Speaker:say its not 100% perfect just yet.
Speaker:Yeah, the author mentioned a few times where the pauses between
Speaker:words were a little off, or the inflection
Speaker:sounded a bit robotic. I guess were
Speaker:not quite at the point where AI can
Speaker:perfectly replicate the human voice.
Speaker:Not yet, anyway. But even with a few imperfections, the potential
Speaker:here is huge. Think about it. You could
Speaker:have AI generate different versions
Speaker:of your podcast in different languages
Speaker:or tailored to different audiences.
Speaker:That's actually amazing. Talk about expanding your reach. But it
Speaker:still seems like the human touch
Speaker:is important, you know, coming up with
Speaker:the initial concept, giving the AI
Speaker:direction, and actually promoting
Speaker:the podcast.
Speaker:Oh, absolutely. This isn't about replacing human creativity,
Speaker:it's about augmenting it. Like giving
Speaker:creators a powerful new tool to work
Speaker:with.
Speaker:It's like AI can handle the technical side of things, so we're
Speaker:free to focus on the creative side.
Speaker:Exactly. It's about working smarter, not harder. And who knows
Speaker:what amazing new ideas and formats
Speaker:we'll come up with when we have AI
Speaker:to help us bring them to life.
Speaker:So instead of thinking of AI as a threat, we should be thinking
Speaker:of it as an opportunity.
Speaker:Precisely. An opportunity to push our own creativity further.
Speaker:Speaking of pushing boundaries, this whole thing got
Speaker:me thinking about authenticity. Like,
Speaker:what makes a podcast great? Is it
Speaker:the perfectly edited sound, or is
Speaker:it that raw human connection you
Speaker:get when you're listening to a conversation?
Speaker:Right? And that's something I'm really grappling with, because
Speaker:if the hosts aren't even human, can
Speaker:you really have that same level of
Speaker:connection with the audience?
Speaker:That's a great question, and one that I'm not sure even the AI
Speaker:has an answer to yet.
Speaker:It really makes you wonder, where do we draw the line? Like,
Speaker:will we get to a point where podcasts
Speaker:are so polished, so perfectly produced,
Speaker:that they lose that raw human element?
Speaker:It's like, what's that saying? Too much of a good thing?
Speaker:Exactly. You know, I think back to when I first started podcasting,
Speaker:I was so focused on trying to sound
Speaker:professional, you know, like those
Speaker:big time radio hosts.
Speaker:Oh, yeah, with the perfect diction and everything.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly. But I sounded so stiff and rehearsed, it was painful.
Speaker:It wasn't until I just relaxed, let
Speaker:my guard down a little, that people
Speaker:really started responding to the
Speaker:podcast.
Speaker:So it was those imperfections, those little glimpses of your personality,
Speaker:that made people connect.
Speaker:Exactly. And that's what I worry about with all this AI stuff,
Speaker:that we'll lose.
Speaker:That human element, that spark of authenticity.
Speaker:Exactly. It's like AI can help us create amazing sounding podcasts,
Speaker:but it can't replace the human heart
Speaker:at the center of it all.
Speaker:So then how do we find that balance? How do we embrace these
Speaker:new AI tools without losing what makes
Speaker:podcasting special?
Speaker:That's the million dollar question, isn't it? I don't know
Speaker:if there's an easy answer, but I do
Speaker:think it starts with being really
Speaker:intentional about why we're using
Speaker:AI in the first place.
Speaker:Like, what's the goal, right?
Speaker:Is it just to make things easier, faster, cheaper? Or are we
Speaker:using AI to actually enhance our
Speaker:creativity, to tell better stories,
Speaker:to connect with our audience on a deeper
Speaker:level.
Speaker:Because a hammer can build a house or it can break stuff, it all
Speaker:depends on the person using it.
Speaker:Exactly. And with AI, the stakes are even higher. I mean, we're
Speaker:talking about a technology that can
Speaker:mimic or even surpass human intelligence.
Speaker:We have to be careful with how we use
Speaker:it.
Speaker:Which leads to another question. What about the listeners?
Speaker:How are they going to react to all of
Speaker:this? Like, do people even want to
Speaker:listen to AI generated podcasts?
Speaker:Right? Are listeners going to be okay with this, man, the real
Speaker:deal.
Speaker:And if we do start using AI in podcasting, shouldn't we be upfront
Speaker:about it? Like, should there be some
Speaker:kind of disclaimer?
Speaker:Transparency is definitely important. Just like with any other
Speaker:aspect of podcasting. If you're using
Speaker:AI to help you create your show,
Speaker:tell your listeners they deserve to know.
Speaker:But where's the line? Like, are we going to start seeing warning
Speaker:labels on podcast apps? This podcast
Speaker:contains AI generated voices. Listener
Speaker:discretion is advised.
Speaker:It's tricky, right? We don't want to stifle innovation, but we
Speaker:also don't want to mislead anyone.
Speaker:This is uncharted territory.
Speaker:Who knows? Maybe podcast apps will start categorizing podcasts
Speaker:based on how much AI was used in the making
Speaker:of them.
Speaker:It's possible. I mean, we're already seeing AI being used for
Speaker:things like content recommendations
Speaker:and targeted advertising. It wouldn't
Speaker:surprise me if it eventually spills
Speaker:over into how podcasts are categorized
Speaker:and presented to listeners.
Speaker:There's a lot to think about.
Speaker:It is. And then there's the whole question of how AI will impact
Speaker:the podcasting industry as a whole.
Speaker:Right? Like, will this lead to more opportunities for creators?
Speaker:Or will AI end up replacing human podcasters
Speaker:altogether?
Speaker:Some people think we're headed for an AI powered podcasting boom.
Speaker:Lower barriers to entry, more diverse
Speaker:voices, endless possibilities.
Speaker:And others are worried about job losses, the devaluation of human
Speaker:creativity, that kind of thing.
Speaker:It's definitely a time of great change and uncertainty. But
Speaker:if there's one thing I know for sure,
Speaker:it's that AI isn't going away.
Speaker:It's here to stay.
Speaker:Exactly. And like it or not, it's going to continue to shape the
Speaker:way we create, consume, and even
Speaker:think about podcasts.
Speaker:Well, speaking of AI and podcasting, we haven't even gotten
Speaker:to the most meta part of the article
Speaker:yet.
Speaker:Oh, you mean the part where the author actually listens to the
Speaker:AI podcast and tells us if it's any
Speaker:good?
Speaker:Exactly. So what did they think? Was it any good?
Speaker:Well, according to their article, it was surprisingly convincing.
Speaker:The AI host, they actually discussed
Speaker:the main points of the article, like,
Speaker:in a natural back and forth way.
Speaker:Get out. So, like, you ask questions and everything.
Speaker:Questions, answers, even a little humor thrown in there.
Speaker:Hold on. Humor? Like the AI was making jokes.
Speaker:That's what the article said.
Speaker:I gotta know, was it actually funny? Or like that painful kind
Speaker:of AI humor that makes you wanna hide
Speaker:under a rock?
Speaker:The article didn't really go into detail about the AI's comedic
Speaker:timing, but it did say that overall,
Speaker:it was really engaging to listen to,
Speaker:even with a few rough edges here
Speaker:and there. Like, the pauses weren't perfect,
Speaker:right?
Speaker:That robotic cadence.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:But still, it's pretty mind blowing creating a whole podcast
Speaker:episode with AI in a few hours. I
Speaker:mean, come on.
Speaker:It's a game changer for sure. Especially for people who are just
Speaker:starting out with podcasting or anyone
Speaker:who doesn't have a ton of time or
Speaker:resources.
Speaker:Right? It could really open doors for a lot of people.
Speaker:Exactly. Imagine being able to just get your ideas out there in
Speaker:this really polished and engaging
Speaker:way. No need for expensive equipment or
Speaker:anything.
Speaker:The democratization of podcasting or something.
Speaker:Right. But then it also makes you wonder, like, what happens when
Speaker:everyone and their grandma can create
Speaker:a professional sounding podcast,
Speaker:right?
Speaker:Is that a good thing or a bad thing? More voices, more diversity
Speaker:of thought. That's great. But are we
Speaker:gonna end up drowning in a sea of
Speaker:content?
Speaker:It's hard to say. It's like opening pandora's box. In a way,
Speaker:we're sticking into this uncharted
Speaker:territory. It's both exciting and
Speaker:a little bit terrifying.
Speaker:No doubt. But one thing's for sure, this AI stuff is changing the
Speaker:game.
Speaker:Absolutely. And it's up to all of us to figure out how we're going
Speaker:to navigate this new landscape.
Speaker:So, to our listeners out there, what do you think? Are you
Speaker:ready for the age of AI podcasting?
Speaker:Let us know. Hit us up on social media. Send us an email. We
Speaker:want to hear your thoughts on this
Speaker:whole AI revolution.
Speaker:And hey, maybe you'll even hear your thoughts featured on a
Speaker:future deep dive.
Speaker:Who knows? Maybe we'll even let the AI chime in with its two
Speaker:cent.
Speaker:Until next time, keep exploring, keep creating, and keep
Speaker:listening.
