A.I. Narrated Podcasts Are a Thing
Paul Gewuerz
It was only a matter of time before podcasts and Artificial Intelligence (AI) got together and enterprising minds recognized the business opportunity.
If you ask, ‘Why AI for podcasts?’ you wouldn’t be alone.
“The quick answer is time and money,” says Paul Gewuerz, founder at Made to Order Audio, a company that produces podcasts and audio books.
“Many business leaders know that podcasts are an amazing way to connect with their audience and have entertained the idea of launching one as part of their content strategy, but simply don’t have the time to commit to a podcast or the budget to hire someone else to do it.”
That problem became an idea and commitment to providing a solution.
“Using A.I. narration that now sounds much more human than even 6 months or a year ago, producing quality audio, has become much quicker and cheaper,” Gewuerz says.
He is quick to add that this type of service and product isn’t aimed at subjugating the traditional podcast.
“In my opinion, A.I. will never be able to replace a human host when it comes to conducting a podcast interview or connecting emotionally with the audience,” Gewuerz says. “However, A.I. narrated podcasts are an amazing way to deliver news, education and other forms of quality content to a large and growing segment of people who prefer audio as their primary content source, yours truly included.”
So, this type of communication is an addition method of podcasting, is also not an attempt to make the original form obsolete. To him, it’s not surprising that he has not heard pushback or criticism.
“I haven’t read any criticism of A.I. podcasts specifically, although I’m sure that it’s out there somewhere,” he says. “In general,” he’s found, “the A.I. criticism that I’ve seen seems to be focused on plagiarism issues and replacing human jobs.”
That however doesn’t apply, he contends, from the work he is doing and the business it has become.
“When it comes to humans losing jobs, I can only speak from my own experience. In my business, our new A.I. product hasn’t replaced a single minute of human work,” Gewuerz says.
“If anything, it’s only grown the pie,” he adds, explaining that, “Smaller organizations who couldn’t afford traditional podcast production now can, leading to growth for my business and increased reach and ad revenue for theirs.”
For those already podcasting, nothing is different.
“Businesses and individuals who already run a traditional podcast aren’t changing anything,” Gewuerz says. “Like I said before, there are things humans can do that A.I. can’t now and won’t be able to do in the foreseeable future.”
That future is still unclear about how technology will expand its capabilities and presence.
“I’m not sure that anyone knows exactly how A.I. will continue to develop,” Gewuerz says, “but so far it’s only helped me become more efficient. In addition to helping me offer the new A.I. narrated product, different tools have helped me streamline my traditional podcast production as well. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t see a future where people will want to be consuming media that is 100% A.I. produced.”
He provides an explanation, maybe a comforting one for many, for that statement.
“We’re a social species and I think that we’ll always want to hear from other living, breathing humans,” Gewuerz says, while adding the reality, “But it’s also clear that the genie is out of the lamp, and I think that it will affect podcasts and other media in unpredictable ways.”
As for what the public and consumers might find exciting when it comes to A.I. narration, learning and consuming content, an answer immediately comes to mind.
“I think that the drop in production costs will make more audio content available and this good news for podcast listeners with niche interests.”
A.I. however might become more prevalent in certain spaces.
“I also think that for podcasts and other media that don’t necessarily rely on a human personality, such as local news, industry news and educational content, it won’t even be noticeable that A.I. is narrating the content, especially as the technology progresses.”
###
Publisher’s Notes:
*If you’d like to advertise in this section or this particular feature, contact the publisher (Michael) at CIM.writer.publisher@gmail.com
*Advertising in Communication Intelligence is available through (paid) links for your service or products, ads in articles, section sponsorships, expanded business listings, the book store and job and collaboration listings.
*Communication Intelligence also now offers professional writing services: email the publisher — see the upper right-hand corner of this website — with questions or to get started.
