Who wants an automated podcast bro?

A more convenient and engaging alternative to your company blog?

Google NotebookLM is a fantastic learning tool. It allows you to link up to 300 sources and will distill all that information into a single model. Let's say you want to have a basic understanding of the EU AI Act. It's a long, boring document.

You can add it as a source, together with a few YouTube videos on the topic. Maybe add a note describing your company. You now have a ChatGPT-style model you can ask targeted questions.

“Which articles have been especially relevant to companies in my field?”

You can make it generate tutorials, study guides and questionnaires to help you master the topic.

But the most fascinating output is… a podcast. NotebookLM can generate an engaging podcast about your topic for you on the fly.

Here's an auto-generated podcast discussing the impact of the AI Act on recruiters. It took around 2 minutes to generate.

While I used NotebookLM for this one, there are open-source alternatives that you can easily integrate into your product. And easily is not a hyperbole here. Podcastfy is such a tool, making it almost trivial to generate engaging podcasts. While you can do a lot of tweaking and fine-tuning, the average software team should be able to set up a working demo in a couple of minutes.

It’s hard to overstate just how popular podcasts are – they hold a special place in people's hearts. Over half a billion people tune in worldwide! It might just be the defining format of our time. Large podcasts are often a vehicle for charismatic semi-celebrities whom people love to hang out with. The second reason for their popularity, however, is the convenient format. You can pick up anytime, hands-free. This allows you to learn while jogging, traveling, cooking, driving or commuting.

With AI-generated podcasts, we can’t necessarily bank on the host’s charisma. People know it’s a machine and the presenters in that recruiter podcast above are milquetoast at best. But we can lean in hard into the convenient format!

It's clear to see how this technology can be applied throughout many industries.

Unlike office workers, most factory and warehouse employees do not read emails or company blogs. It's not a convenient format for them, even on a smartphone.

But a daily podcast that informs bus drivers about interruptions and local construction sites that impact their route? What better way to inform your international fleet of truck drivers about new security policies than a tailor-made radio station in their preferred language? Maybe listen to a digest of that 3-hour strategy presentation while preparing dinner?

What about product updates in audio format? Your users could subscribe to a channel that discusses the new features after each release. It's both convenient and a cool marketing opportunity that requires almost no overhead.

Going from text to auto-generated podcast unlocks a lot of opportunities, and the technology is here today. It's even surprisingly easy.

What kind of text-based information would be much better in audio format? What would that look like in your industry?