In the gold rush ofgenerative artificial intelligencea wave of startups, including ElevenLabs, WondercraftAI e Podcastlehas made inroads into an already saturated market by introducing easy-to-use tools for generate entries with AI in minutes. Thus the first ones begin to make their way podcast AI-based.
We are early days and no one is keeping track of the actual number of these listeners yet. Big hubs like Apple Podcasts and Spotify don’t have separate leaderboards for robot hosts. However, there are some AI podcasts that have found an audienceat least for the first handful of episodes.
What’s behind the first AI-generated podcasts
The first podcast produced byartificial intelligence has cloned the voice of one of the most famous conductors in the world. There Joe Rogan AI Experience features made-up conversations between Rogan and other fake guests like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former US President Donald Trump.
Launched the first episode, the real Rogan shared a link to the series on Twitter acknowledging the “slippery” implications of this new technology. Yet the podcast has already stacked up over 500 thousand views on YouTubewith several positive reviews.
Hugo, the fan who created the podcast, does not expect to earn any income: You understand that you do not have permission to use Rogan’s voice or likeness, and that podcasting platforms may prohibit this type of impersonation.
His intent is to show what AI vocal tools can do. And while he carefully edits the episodes to make them accurate and fluid, he doesn’t think the conversations are particularly compelling.
Not an uncommon trend among creators in this space, that they see their work as “experimentation” rather than as a “business”. Lior Solan Israeli sound engineer, has created a quirky podcast using the tools of ElevenLabs more as an art project and opportunity to explore new technologies, than to pursue a large audience.
Some creators don’t expect their audience to like their work. Andi Durrant participated in the creation of Synthetic Stories, a podcast featuring AI-generated voice, script and design at his UK content marketing startup. And beyond the pride of the experiment, the limits are evident on a creative level.
However, Dimitris Nikolaou, CEO WondercraftAI, believes audiences can develop loyalty to these podcasts. The team he created Hacker News Recap which, with short, daily summaries of stories from the Y Combinator forum of the same name, ranked 31st on the Apple Podcasts tech chart in the US, and is outperforming in other places.
Nikolaou doesn’t think AI scripts are superior to those written by humans, or that artificial voices are more melodious. The real peculiarity lies in the fact that they can be published regularly every morningregardless of what happens.
Because human podcasters will not be replaced by AI
It’s becoming more and more common for podcasters to use AI editing tools, which can simplify tasks like removing background noise. However, the idea of AI-generated presenters is still far fetched.
Bobby Finger and Lindsey Weber from are convinced of this Who? Weekly. But also Kelsey McKinney, host of Normal Gossip, is skeptical of AI-powered podcasts because listeners want to feel connected to real people, not machines. McKinney also sees it as a way for entertainment companies to devalue the arts and cut costs replacing creative people.
While some people may like having the news read by a robotic voice, most podcasts thrive on creating intimacy and a sense of community among listeners. In his book, Podcasting as an Intimate Medium, Alyn Euritt points out that successful podcasts establish authentic conversations between hosts and listenerscreating a sense of camaraderie and shared identity.
While AI podcasts are a small part of the growing market for generative AI products and services, they exemplify the tensions within the industry. Technology can create sounds and images that look real, but it makes mistakes that disrupt the hearing experience.
Also, there is a exaggerated hype about the impact of AI which can distort the understanding of its true value. So although bots can work for summarize newsthey can never replace and replicate the intimacy and human touch that make podcasts so special.
to know more: Artificial Intelligence, what it is and what it can do for us