We’ve been in The Year of Audio Content for a number of years. But what comes to mind when I say ‘audio content’?

Podcasts are a type of audio – quite old as a format but on a decade-long boom that shows no signs of letting up. Meanwhile audiobooks are audio too, dominated by platforms such as Audible but with countless options. And nowadays AI even ‘reads out’ standard web articles – sometimes in a close approximation to the original author’s voice.

Unlike a popular author or celebrity taking hours in a studio to narrate the audio version of their/a book, the latter type of audio above is often billed as a way to ‘let AI do some of the heavy lifting’.

In one example I sometimes listen to, a popular columnist has populated an AI engine with various past voice recordings, then the technology creates an audio version of his latest article.

But there are problems. The technology doesn’t quite get his intonation right. I think anyone would notice that but it’s definitely apparent for any of us who have heard this person speak at events or on podcasts. It’s all a bit ‘uncanny valley’ – but in an aural sense.

Warts and all, for the win

Compare this to podcasts.

Sure, some of today’s podcasts are beyond indulgent. But a meandering form factor has its upsides. When there is little editing, you get the feeling that you’re getting closer to the podcaster and the guests they invite on. When they um and ah, or say something silly, you feel closer to that person. It feels natural.

An AI doing an impersonation of you, on the other hand, is the opposite of natural. Although I meet someone every week who thinks that’s smart.

In podcasts, you have to put in the work. I’m not talking about the planning and writing. That’s also there with a written article that’s then ‘read out’. But you have to show up, maybe at a studio facility or at least using an online platform. You can’t dial it in or send someone else (although I’ve seen someone do that – a story for another time).

So it takes more time but I’d argue the results are worth it.

What I’ve been describing involves different use cases, sure. Sometimes a quick read-out of something is just what’s needed – and I even met someone recently who spoke about getting AI to summarise and read out a 100-page-plus briefing document while driving to a rushed new business meeting. Not content per se, but a great AI+audio use case.

But I think I know which kind of audio is having a better year.

You can find our  strand of our Sense-makers: Content Leaders podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Keep an eye out for our new series coming out next month.