by - Podcasters have tested ChatGPT and a variety of other AI tools to aid in their workflow.
- Listeners have mixed feelings about the ethics of using ChatGPT for podcasts, according to a new poll.
- 5 podcasters shared how they use AI tools and how they approach ChatGPT.
Influencers and developers have tested a variety of use cases for ChatGPT — the lively AI chatbot that generates detailed responses to prompts — from asking for help scripting videos to writing emails and LinkedIn posts to drafting legal ones Agreement.
And in podcasting, the use of AI has sparked some ethical debates.
A survey by podcast monetization company Acast found that about half of listeners thought it was ethical for podcasters to use tools like ChatGPT as long as they’re only used for idea generation, while 36% thought it was ethical for them to use them to use in any way. About 15% felt the use of chatbots was unethical in all scenarios.
“From the listener’s perspective, it’s a very close relationship,” said Tommy Walters, commercial insights manager at Acast. “They’re actively choosing this podcast from thousands of options, so they want to make sure the ideas they’re consuming are genuine.”
Podcasters were more accepting of AI without borders. 84% of podcasters surveyed thought it was ethical to use ChatGPT in all scenarios, while 49% said they would limit usage to generating ideas. None of the podcasters thought it was unethical.
Insider spoke to five podcasters about their use of ChatGPT and other AI tools in their daily workflow. They generally agreed that the intimacy between a podcast host and a listener creates a special kind of trust that widespread use of AI could jeopardize.
“As a creator, when you’re trying to share your voice with the world, programs don’t feel authentic,” said Jordan Schwarzenberger, host of creator economy podcast UNBOXED. “As long as it’s additive and supports your creativity and your voice, I’m personally fine ethically. If it becomes a voice, I have a problem.”
Schwarzenberger and other podcasters said use of chatbots like ChatGPT should be limited to functions like rounding up key points from shows, creating social media content, or encouraging creativity — but not getting the podcaster’s job done.
They also said they had successfully experimented with other AI tools that shortened the editing and marketing part of the process. For example, Descript uses AI to transcribe the sound from a video or audio track and allows editing directly from the transcription.
“Descript is fantastic. I’ve been using it for five years now and it just keeps getting better,” said Amber Bateman, executive producer at production company Listen, which produces UNBOXED. “It’s really helpful for transcription as well as quick audio editing.”
ChatGPT can be used for script writing, but it’s most helpful after the show has been produced
Using ChatGPT can be tempting for podcasters to increase efficiency.
“We’re not looking to replace people, we’re using new tools to increase efficiency, increase accuracy, generate new ideas and essentially just increase our output by the end of the day,” said Gordon Osborne, Head of Partnerships and Marketing at media company Motiversity, which focuses on motivational content.
Motiversity publishes several motivational video podcasts, including collections of affirmations and quotes. Osborne and Motiversity founder Joel Huculak used ChatGPT to script these videos.
“It’s just about getting the bare bones of it,” Huculak said. “It still requires some editing, AI isn’t necessarily funny or generates emotion or anything, so you really have to humanize it.”
Other podcasters said they found a better use case for ChatGPT after a show had already been created — to repurpose their content for social media, or to write synopses or show notes.
“If we wanted to give a new twist to the content and expand it further, we would use ChatGPT,” said Robert Hanna, host of the Legally Speaking podcast.
Hanna and his team used ChatGPT to generate headlines. Richard Blake, director of marketing and growth at podcast production company Fresh Air, said ChatGPT is helpful with show descriptions or episode descriptions that summarize the content of the show itself.
Podcasters have also tried the chatbot for research purposes, but with mixed results. They found that answers are often factually incorrect or provide very limited information.
Podcasters are embracing AI to help with audio editing and automation of social media content
AI tools that help automate content editing and repurposing are more useful than ChatGPT, the podcasters said.
Here were some of the best:
- Describe. The platform transcribes the sound from a video or audio track and allows editing directly from the transcription. It also helps with multitrack editing, cutting audio into smaller segments, and AI speech generation.
- Choppity, a tool that promises to “convert long videos to TikToks in three clicks.” It also creates branding presets that it applies to all videos to be shared on social media.
- Otter.ai, which enables live audio transcription and note-taking.
- Recently,.ai has been helping in social media content creation. The tool converts lengthy content into text, audio, or video posts, and analyzes data from pre-existing social content to tailor it to the style and tone of the person or brand using it.
- Midjourney, which generates images through AI, helped create thumbnails for YouTube videos.
Acast’s poll found that the majority of podcasters — 74% of them — believe AI can make their content “a lot better.”
But that doesn’t mean it can replace the “original, mind-boggling, funny and messy” quality of human input, Blake said.
“There’s real detail and context behind every podcast that’s created, so I think the fact that they’re AI-free, that they’re robot-free, is one of their unique qualities,” he said. “I’m not going to tell you that AI will replace podcasts or that we will create podcasts from AI because that kills the magic of podcasting.”
