A few weeks ago, we sent out a survey to podcasters asking about how they use AI and what they like or dislike about AI podcasting AI. Shortly after, we shared those findings. However, they were a little more on the qualitative side.

Today, we are following up on that post and adding a little more color! In this blog post, we will dive into how podcasters feel about AI using that same data set from a few weeks ago. 

Recap

In case you missed, forgot, or just don’t want to read our last post – “hear” are the key points and takeaways: 

  • We had 248 responses.
  • All sorts of podcasters chimed in! We had newbies (<6 months) to OG’s who have been podcasting for 5+ years.
  • 66% of podcasters reported “Yes” when asked, “Do you use AI?”
  • The top AI tools used were Headliner (33%), ChatGPT (30%), and Canva (23%)
  • Podcasters use AI at every step of the “pod-motional” process: Promotion (47%), Creation (29%), and Editing (24%).
  • The top use cases for AI were Image Generation (24%), Social Media Help (17%), Transcriptions (16%), Copy Writing (11%), Metadata (10%), and Audiograms (10%).

In our survey data, we also found that, overall, podcaster sentiment was pretty positive.

Separate from that, we wanted to dig deeper while really getting into what podcasters like, dislike, and are kinda meh about. We wanted to discuss some changes podcasters would like to see regarding AI.

So, let’s dive into the good, the bad, and the meh about podcasters’ attitudes toward AI! 

The Good

First, let’s start off with the good.

In total, we had 183 write-in submissions. From these write-ins, a few themes emerged. Podcasters enjoy AI because:

  • AI saves time and boosts productivity.
  • AI helps jump-start the creative process.
  • AI is an easy-to-use podcasting tool.

AI saves time

32% of write-ins said AI helps save time and increases work productivity. Our report found AI’s time-saving abilities to be the number one reason podcasters like AI. 

{AI} cuts my workload by at least 50%.

Anonymous

Several podcasters also wrote AI makes their work easier and frees up more time. AKA, AI enables podcasters to focus on the parts of podcasting they enjoy the most!

It enhances my productivity level. It frees up my time so I could focus more on creative and strategic tasks.

Anonymous

Podcasters are using AI to do or help with things they find least enjoyable and to make work more efficient – which improves the overall podcasting process, making it more enjoyable. 

Co-Create

Another massive plus for the pod-bots is the ability to help spark creativity. 

Podcasters – big, small, solo, and what have you – treat AI like a teammate. Podcasters said AI helps generate ideas, overcome podcaster/writer’s block, and perform tasks they don’t feel confident doing. 

…having a creative spark or getting the basics outlined so we don’t have to start from scratch.

Anonymous

AI is even helping podcasters push their limits. It helps grow podcasts’ reach beyond what was previously possible. One quote in particular stood out to us: 

It helps me break out of my normal shell and come up with creative ways to promote our podcast.

Anonymous

AI is changing how podcasters podcast. It enables podcasters to broaden their horizons and grow their podcast in meaningful ways that otherwise may not have been possible. 

Easy, peasy podcasting tool

Many podcasters also like AI simply because it is easy to use and improves existing workflows. 

If you’ve ever thought a workflow could have been more efficient or straightforward, raise your hand. Okay, you don’t actually have to raise it – but you get the idea. Using certain applications can be tricky! 

Not every tool is easy to use. 13% of podcasters said they enjoy AI because it is easy to use or makes existing tools, processes, and what-have-you easier. 

The ease of additional content it helps to produce.

Anonymous

Ease of use, smart creativity.

Anonymous

I like that it can assist in automating a process which would otherwise take me hours.

Anonymous

To podcasters, AI just makes sense. From creation to automation, podcasters are enjoying AI’s easy-to-use solutions. 

The Bad

Now, let’s discuss some of the things podcasters don’t like about AI.

We had 181 podcasters write in when asked, “What do you dislike about AI?”Answers were a little more spread out here, but we still had some themes emerge: 

  • AI can be inauthentic and unreliable.
  • AI can be challenging to use.
  • AI can be expensive and biased. 

Inauthentic & unreliable

20% of write-ins mentioned AI is”less human” (which, oh my gosh, we hope this stays true! #notparinoid) or unreliable. A few quotes, in particular, summed up these points rather beautifully (and humanly…). 

I really like creating artwork with it. I dislike using it as a writing tool because it doesn’t convey human emotion. I often need to fact check it also.

Anonymous

AI can feel less human, less personal. 

Anonymous

Based on our data, podcasters feel AI is trying too hard to create and think like a human. While its output is not unusable, podcasters often need to clean up AI’s output and include more human-like nuances.

Additionally, 8% of AI cons said they felt AI was unreliable or needed more transparency.

Podcasters were concerned about AI’s sources and noticed its output was occasionally incorrect. Respondents also wanted more information regarding regulations for AI-generated content. Some podcasters even asked for more education to help protect themselves when using AI, flagging originality concerns.  

Difficult to use

Another 8% of respondents reported finding AI difficult or tricky to use. These responses often were tied to prompt engineering. Podcasters wrote things like: 

Thinking about what to prompt to get right output.

Anonymous

Prompt engineering certainly can be a tricky process. Especially when first giving it a go. We’ve certainly got some wonky outputs before from improper prompting. 

Unfortunately, there is no perfect formula or guaranteed way to avoid this, so it may take a little time and patience on the creator’s side. However, we’ve found some neat resources to help produce better prompts. You can check them out here. 

Expensive & bias

3% of podcasters wrote in regarding cost. An additional 3% wrote about seeing AI as having a bias. While neither is significant, we still wanted to address them as we’ve heard these cons before. 

Just like anything – using AI can be expensive. AI is a product at its core, and software companies want to make a profit using AI. So, unfortunately, there is not always a cheaper or free alternative to some AI features or tools. However, there are tons of free and inexpensive AI options, like Headliner, that can help accomplish your podcasting dreams! 

Another 3% of podcasters reported seeing a bias towards Western culture in AI. 

It uses the American way of spelling, and the tone of voice used by AI doesn’t always match ours. 

Anonymous

One podcaster even wrote verbatim, “It sometimes seems a bit American!” Again, we don’t have a fix to this, but this will likely change as more options become available and AI has more learning time under its belt. 

The Meh

We also asked podcasters what changes they would like to see in AI. We had 96 podcasters write to us.

Changes were generally correlated with “con” responses, as there were quite a few “see above” or “as above” write-ins. Still, there were, to us, a few themes and standouts that summed up overall requests succinctly:

Ability to make it personalized and keep info stored.

Anonymous

It needs to be more diverse. It needs to better recognize or differentiate voices.

Anonymous

…I would definitely like to improve its personalization feature(s) and dive deep with its learning algorithm to enhance it based on the actual user’s data and behavior.

Anonymous

Safety and privacy rights and protocols.

Anonymous

Our sample found podcasters generally do appreciate AI in its current state. However, many still assert it’s not perfect, with many podcasters flagging safety, quality, and IP concerns. 

No, the robots will not take over. 

To sum it up, we will use this quote: 

It still makes a lot of errors, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Anonymous

And to that, we say yep. AI is not the perfect solution for every podcast. It can be tricky at times, make mistakes, or doesn’t give us exactly what we want – but AI is still so young. 

AI has been around for a few years, but it has never been this accessible or widely used. AI is learning, growing, and improving every day. It is, undoubtedly, a powerful tool that helps – but by no means a replacement for the human creative spirit. 

…I am okay with AI as long as it helps humans along, not take over. 

Anonymous

So yep, we don’t believe the robots will take over – but we do think AI is “hear” to stay and is “hear” to help. So, sorry to whoever wrote this: 

Let it destroy humans. 

Anonymous

To learn more about how AI can assist podcasters or to try out some of Headliner’s podcasting AI tools, check out these pod-tools! You can also read more about podcasting AI on our blog here.