While the idea of an AI-generated podcast with a rapid turnaround may sound scary to some fans and creators, other industry players see it as inevitable. Oskar Serrander, who describes his studio Wondercraft, which combines AI and podcasting, as “Canva for audio,” says he sees AI as a way to help creatives “produce at the speed of culture.” While he admits that AI has limits — such as how the technology typically feeds off of past ideas rather than creating new concepts — he admires the way it could lower the barrier to entry for some brands or creators.
Serrander points out that there are fewer podcast creators what’s up OnlyFans creatorsMeanwhile, there are millions of YouTube channels and “then you have TikTok and other social media channels and all these creators” competing for people’s attention. AI, he says, can lead to the “democratization of podcasts,” ultimately resulting in what he believes could be a more interesting and profitable industry.
Admittedly, those who are deeply interested in the art of podcasting don’t see it that way. Jason Saldanha, chief operating officer of the nonprofit digital radio distribution company PRX, says the creators he’s worked with seem wary of AI, in part because they believe “the real power of the medium is the relationship between host and audience.” (Disclosure: PRX distributes podcasts for WIRED’s parent company, Condé Nast.)
While it’s tempting to use AI to translate a podcast into 20 languages and just publish it, that stretches the boundaries of a piece of work’s authenticity. “The most successful podcasts have a one-to-one relationship with their audiences, as if audiences believe they’re interacting with those people in the same room or working with them to solve some problem together,” Saldanha says. Using an AI voice to read the day’s news or even create an entirely new story related to the day’s news may seem tempting to those looking to make money from podcasting, but in the long run he believes it’s a losing game.
“The vast majority of audio companies are run by former radio executives who, in the 1990s, were running ad loads that accounted for about 50 percent of the content that was being broadcast,” Saldanha explains. “That created a moment where the public thought, ‘There are too many ads. I need an alternative,’ so they turned to Napster and then Spotify.”
Now that those executives are working in the digital audio sector, Saldanha says, they are applying the same tactics, seeking to monetize podcasts as much as possible. Doing so while simultaneously adding more podcasts to the market will devalue a premium form of content, putting the entire podcast industry at risk.
“These types of companies flood the market with content to get the lowest level of engagement, and that’s fine as a strategy, but it’s not a long-term strategy,” Saldanha says. “It’s disgusting and bad, and ultimately you’re cutting your nose off just to make an extra dollar.”
Caloroga Shark doesn’t see it that way. For Francis, AI should be part of a mix of tools that podcast creators use to stand out in a crowded field. Listeners “will tell you which shows deserve to stay, whether they use AI or not,” he says. Paging Protocol It may or may not be in that mix.