Are you an aspiring podcaster or a veteran podcaster worried about how AI will affect podcasting?
In this episode, we are diving into just that, so let's dive right in.
This is podcasting where I'm on a quest to conquer the podcasting realm,
and I'm bringing you along for the journey to help you achieve your own podcasting success.
Alright, so the first thing I want to talk about is the role of AI in podcasting.
There are a lot of tools already in development and usable in AI for podcasting,
so let's dive into some ways that you can currently use AI for your podcast.
The first way is script writing, so you can use a tool like ChatGPT.
ChatGPT was created by OpenAI. If you have not heard of them, you've probably been living under a rock,
but this is a tool that you can use to create a script,
and it can be very helpful to flesh out ideas for podcast episodes and script writing,
but I will say if you are going to use this tool to create scripts,
you do want to make sure that you are changing it to how you would say it or how you would write it,
because you want to come off as authentic, and it will definitely not be authentic
if you are using the words that ChatGPT gives you directly.
Another way you can currently use AI for your podcast is to use it for show notes and transcripts.
A lot of the hosting platforms are actually starting to use AI,
so an example would be RSS.com, where you can currently use AI to create your transcriptions,
show notes for your podcast, which can definitely streamline the process and increase productivity,
which is something that is great because that can be very time consuming.
There are some other tools that of course can do this as well.
Podbean, which is another hosting podcasting platform,
I believe they also have a vast variety of tools in AI that you can use,
and that is AI tools that do create your transcripts and show notes,
and I believe they also have some other AI tools that we can dive into here in a little bit
when we are talking about more of the editing process.
Another thing that AI can be used for is voice cloning.
So this one is something that I am a bit mixed on because voice cloning could be problematic,
and there is some ethical concerns with voice cloning, as there is with everything in AI right now,
and there is some concerns I have as somebody who is not a huge fan of AI for voice cloning
because I believe it can take jobs away, just like anything else in AI,
from voice over actors and voice over artists and things of that nature,
but I do think it can also be helpful.
There are tools like Riverside, for instance, that uses voice cloning
to help you generate intros and outros or ad spots, and so this could be helpful for that.
I believe you just use text and you type out what you are looking for for your script,
and it will generate a voice clone using your voice to do this.
Now, an important fact from Riverside is that they do not use your voice
or your recording for AI training.
This is said on their website, and so that is something that is very important,
and you cannot use it to generate voices of your guest, which is also very important.
So I think Riverside is doing the ethical thing and the most responsible thing for voice cloning,
and I think that it could be something that we do see more in the future.
And the other issue, of course, is copywritten material, which has been huge in AI,
not just in podcasting, but with other media sources, other media forms,
and a bunch of other things like art and everything else, and books,
and there is a variety of issues that come with AI and copywritten issues
because AI uses copywritten material to train and create what they do.
So when you are using ChatGPT, for instance, it is searching the internet and learning
and adapting and using this material that they gather to give you that information from the internet,
and it is not always public domain, it is sometimes copywritten.
Now, I'm not an AI expert, so don't quote me on all this, but I believe this to be true,
but this is just my thought process on this, so I'm hoping that we do figure that out as far as that's concerned.
There is some legal issues that do arise with AI, of course, and I think we'll be seeing this in the next few years,
definitely coming to a head with more lawsuits in AI and things like that with creativity,
especially with creativity jobs and different industries, so that is something to look at as well,
but I do think there is a lot of benefits to AI in podcasting as well,
so it's definitely a mixed bag that we definitely need to take a look at and make sure we are doing it the correct way,
just like everything else with AI in all different aspects,
and so that's something we need to take a look at for sure.
Next up, let's talk about AI in podcast production.
So this is something where I think AI could be a benefit, but then again,
you could also say that, well, it's taking jobs away from people who are podcast producers or audio engineers and things of that nature,
and as someone who actually enjoys doing podcast production and editing my own recordings, that is something that hits home to me,
but there is some benefits to this because you can use AI for your editing,
and this will definitely streamline your process and reduce the time it takes and increase productivity.
You can use this to remove filler words and reduce the amount of silence in your audio,
so it can basically just cut out the silent parts in your audio.
It can also normalize your audio and can level your audio out, so you don't have to manually go in and do that, which is great.
One of the tools that does this is Riverside actually, so Riverside can do this as well as many other things.
I believe Podbean also has a lot of tools where you can do this as well.
I believe they are using a lot of AI for post-production as well, so that's something to look at as well.
Riverside is also a very popular tool, especially if you're doing video and audio podcast.
What about marketing? What can we do for marketing?
Of course, there are going to be a lot of AI marketing tools coming into play and coming into the market,
and if there aren't any that you are aware of, oh, they are coming.
We can use AI to help streamline the process of marketing and use it for content creation, for social media posts.
One of the things that Riverside is doing is actually something called Magic Clips,
where basically they can take your podcast recording and use AI to create short clips
that you can use for shorts on YouTube or TikTok or social media posts,
which can definitely save time and help you reach a broader audience, which I think is pretty awesome.
So that's something to look at as well.
If you are interested in Riverside, you can start today for free actually.
If you're watching this on YouTube, I do have a link in the description.
If you want to check that out as well as I will put that in the show notes on the audio version.
The next thing I want to talk about that I've touched on here is the ethical and legal considerations and controversies with AI in general.
Is it ethical to really be cloning voices?
And that is something that I think needs to be taken a look at.
Of course, we do need permission.
Like Riverside has mentioned on their website, it is completely optional and it is up to you,
and you can only use it to clone your voice.
No one else's, so I think they are doing the right thing.
But there are going to be people who abuse this power, if you will, and clone voices and people for a variety of really inappropriate and dangerous situations.
And so that's something that we definitely need to take a look at.
And there are going to be a lot of legal issues that arise in more lawsuits.
And there definitely needs to be some laws that are put in place with AI and hopefully that can happen.
AI and technology moves way faster than the legal system.
I do want to touch on the future of podcasting with AI.
And one of the things that I think is very important that I've heard from other people on YouTube and other things for audiobooks, for instance.
So basically platforms and directories need to specify if something is AI generated.
So there should be something when you upload, say, an audiobook or a podcast episode and say this is AI generated so that the listener or the audience member is aware that this is AI generated.
So they don't get the idea that this is an authentic human being.
And so that's something that I think needs to be taken into account.
Now the real question is, is AI going to replace podcasting in all aspects, right?
Are we going to have one day where there's going to be a couple of AI podcast hosts sitting there talking about how to be successful in life or something like that?
And I think the answer is no, because podcasting is about the human connection between the host and the listener.
And the reason I say this is really think about it.
You are, as a host, literally between somebody's ears and you are providing them knowledge or education or entertainment.
And you're building a relationship and that is similar to when you are watching a TV show or a movie and you have, you're very empathic to the characters or you're building a relationship with that character over time, especially in a TV show.
I know for me, say when a TV show ends, you're almost missing that character or when a character dies that you really liked, it really hits you.
And I think it's similar in podcasting where you build a relationship with the host. If you are a listener and you are a fan of that host.
And so I don't think there's any way that podcasting will be a hundred percent AI generated.
I do think that eventually we are going to have some AI generated podcast that is fully AI generated from the host to the everything from post-production to the cover art to everything surrounding the podcast.
And this is going to happen everywhere where we are seeing this kind of thing.
But I don't think it's going to end podcasting at all because it's really about humans talking to other humans and humans expressing creativity and emotions and knowledge and things of that nature.
So it's all about humanity. So I don't see that happening anytime soon.
So I think you're safe if you are a podcaster or if you're wanting to get into podcasting, you don't need to worry about AI taking over your dream or your job or your hobby.
But you can use AI to streamline your process and to increase productivity. So that's something that I think we need to take a look at.
And I think that if you are not using AI right now, you will probably fall behind because you won't be able to create as much as other people.
So that's something that you need to take a look at if you are having issues with AI, which is something I've struggled with myself as someone who is worried that AI will ruin human creativity.
Well, that's going to do it for today's episode. I'm curious to hear your guys' thoughts on AI in podcasting or AI in general.
Do you think that AI will take over podcasting or is it just a benefit that it can streamline your process, increase productivity and help you with your podcast?
Or are you worried about it taking over podcasting just like it's going to take your jobs? I'm kidding there. Kind of.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this. Let me know your thoughts. I'm curious to hear your thoughts. If you are watching this on YouTube, you can do that in the comments.
And if you are listening, hop on YouTube and let me know in the comments as well. I'd love to have you on there if you're interested in checking that out.
If you're interested in podcasting and don't know where to start or what genres to pick or you're interested in learning about the top genres of this year,
check out the episode I did on Edison's research on the top podcast genres of 2024.