AI Tools I Use for Podcasting

I've been on the fence about using AI for a while.

Every time I asked ChatGPT to write a draft to a blog post, or to highlight some nuanced areas of my career topic of 'WordPress,' it failed miserably – much to the chagrin of my Twitter timeline.

It seems everyone has a masterfully crafted AI workflow, while I'm over here losing braincells punching keys on my MacBook actually thinking about what (and how!) to write. Certainly I'm doing this whole internet thing wrong.

I won't bury the lede, even if you're an AI denier, but use Desript like a lot of other podcasters, you've been knee deep in AI for a while. (Don't forget, OpenAI invested in Descript, so there's even more AI coming into our do-it-all podcast editing app.)

So here I am, kicking and screaming into the future of podcasting with AI, wether I like it or not.

Descript for editing

Descript solves a lot problems for podcasters:

• Transcriptions
• Filler word removal
• Audio improvements
• of course, editing!

That's just the tip of the iceberg. For better or worse, Descript is trying to be the only app a creator needs, audio and video.

If you haven't tried Descript in a while, it does a lot of these core functions a lot better now. A year, to two years ago, things were a lot clunkier. Removing filler words meant harsh cuts, repairing audio was tedious.

Things are a lot smoother now, even if the app still updates 5 times a day.

MacWhisper app

If I don't need the editing power of Descript, I use the indie developed MacWhisper app.

It's a one-time purchase, if you want the more detailed transcription options, or free if you'd like to simply try it out. The good news is, there are no other costs!

All of the transcription is done locally on your PC, which means you're not paying a cloud solution a fee to transcribe. It all depends on your local processing power, and what level of accuracy you require.

I like using this over Descript when I don't need to launch into a whole editing workflow or have a lot of files to transcribe that don't count against my monthly account limits.

Claude.ai for show notes

One area ChatGPT that was (maybe still is) useless to me, is working with my podcast transcripts.

Claude.ai was able to handle large 'Token requests' since it hit mainstream. This meant I could paste hour long transcripts into its prompt, while I could maybe get 8 minutes into ChatGPT. All with a more elegant interface, I'd say.

There's something about copy/pasting your transcript and having it appear as an icon, versus a wall of text, that feels much more satisfying. Like, here's the file, and here's what I need you to do with it. Clean and contextual.

I've also found the output, when requesting quality show notes, much better than ChatGPT 3.5 and 4. I'm sure the race is on against OpenAI with Google's recent earmark of $2 billion dollars.

Here's a common prompt I'll use:

Please create comprehensive podcast show notes based on this podcast transcript between HOST and GUEST. Write out 2 - 3 paragraphs summarizing the episode, bullet point 5 of the most important takeaways, highlight two quotes that could go viral on social media, and list all of the URL's mentioned in the conversation.

I might add more to that prompt, depending on what my other goals are, but this serves me up a bunch of content as a framework that I can use to promote the podcast episode. It will help me think of titles and tweets that would work best for me.

Claude is powerful, and free!

GPTs for a powerful podcast chat bot

GPTs are a powerful new function of ChatGPT that lets anyone create a chatbot, based off of the training data you provide it.

This could be specific instructions and contexts you write into the prompt field, or in combination with text based files you upload. The kicker is, they are opening this up to a marketplace effect, where other users can interface with your chatbot.

I produced a podcast called Matt Report which went on for over 350 episodes. It focused on interviews with WordPress entrepreneurs and professionals, that used WordPress as their core product offering. Digital agency owners, people selling WordPress plugins, it was all about how this was getting done in the greater WordPress ecosystem.

After transcribing and training my GPT on all of the episodes, I now have a very unique chatbot that my listeners can interface, even though I don't produce the show anymore.

Here's an example of how your own body of work can be much more valuable over generic search, or even generic AI responses. I asked regular ChatGPT to tell me about the popular plugin Gravity Forms, versus what guests have said about Gravity Forms over a decade of conversations:

Regular ChatGPT scoured the web to find reviews and blog posts, and built me a response that was much more 'commercial' feeling. It wasn't wrong, but it was much more data driven.

My chatbot gave a much more human response, and talked about Gravity Forms in the context of how it relates to someone's WordPress business – which is the goal of running my own GPT!

Are you using AI in your podcast?

Let me know how you're using AI in your podcast.

Hit reply and let me know! If you're interested in sharing your podcast setup with the rest of the world, submit your application on the website thepodcastsetup.com!