Slopcasting! Efficiency kills intimacy (and podcasts)

So in this episode, I'm gonna talk to you about why I think

Inception point are complete idiots.

Listeners, let's dive right into the latest and most effective moneymaking

strategies that have emerged this week.

So that's a real podcast.

Created by Inception Point, AI under their Quiet please label.

This is a company whose big idea is to replace real human

creators with synthetic ones.

Somehow they think that's progress, and they're calling any critics ignorant.

Luddites.

You're listening to Podcasting Insights with the Pod Master.

I'm Neil Lio, the pod master, the Human one, and today we're talking about the

creative apocalypse that nobody asked for, namely AI generated podcasts.

I know what you're thinking.

Neil, you use AI tools too?

Yeah, I do.

I use tools.

I don't use sentient piles of algorithmic slop masquerading as podcast hosts

Now with regards to how to make money, a podcast that has an AI generated thumbnail

made in chat, GPT, it's obvious because chat GPT just loves those little gold

logos with the dollar signs in them.

It's using a AI generated voice, an AI generated script, and it's

published using AI generated.

Episode description notes.

This show promises a guide on the art of how to make money.

If I play you a clip, you are gonna get an idea of what that sounds like.

Right now, starting your own business online is as

accessible and lucrative as ever.

Platforms like WAP and Map Academy have enabled university students

to earn six figures by creating and selling online courses.

Including unique offerings like Fortnite Map design.

If you have specialized knowledge in any field, packaging it

into educational modules can generate steady passive income.

Now what Inception point have done, and they're quite proud of this, is create

hundreds of these synthetic hosts.

it's no different from what you would get if you use Notebook LLM.

Or you had a conversation with chat GPT that you then recorded and

published, who the hell wants to listen to a conversation with Chat, GPT?

There's a reason that we can tell that this stuff is completely artificial.

Even when we're having conversations with it, our brain won't allow us to

converse with it like we would a human.

Now each of these shows has a personality trained to sound relatable, but

they don't actually feel anything.

And that's kind of the point where all of this collapses.

And I'm sorry, Janine, CEO of inception point.

You can go on as many podcasts about podcasting, defending your product

as you like, but here's a fundamental truth that you are not gonna like.

It's coming.

Before we get to that, let's talk about Inception point ai.

They got podcasts about wellness, leadership, dating, spirituality,

even some controversial people like Donald Trump and Charlie Kirk.

and it's all voiced by ai.

All of it entirely disconnected from the thing that makes any of

these topics worth listening to.

See, the thing is you can't fake scars.

You can't fake failure.

You can't fake knowing what heartbreak actually feels like, no matter how

many language models you throw at it.

Therefore, you can't relate to your target listener and all the

emotions that they'll be experiencing while they're listening to you.

Now, let's get into the nitty gritty of this here.

I am not anti ai.

I use D Script.

I love Nic.

Hell, I've probably had more conversations with chat GPT about stuff than I've

had with most of my extended family.

But there's a difference between using AI as a tool and using it

as a substitute for your soul.

This AI personality trend, kindness is the entire point of podcasting.

Podcasting works because it's human to human.

It's your voice in somebody else's head.

They hear your hesitation, your laughter, your awkward pauses, and that's

building trust ass building connection.

So when you scribble that away, what you are left with.

Is what I'm gonna start calling slop, casting low effort, zero empathy

content designed to fill a feed rather than say anything meaningful.

It's kind of the equivalent of when people used to sell those websites

that would offer a link to you.

As part of your link building campaign that were literally blank pages with

the links written in the same color font as the background of the page.

In other words, just a bunch of keyword stuffing that was meant to

full Google into thinking your website had a decent link building strategy.

And so this is the moment now, right now we're in it that pivotal point

where creators need to decide what kind of side of the line they're on.

Yes, automation can help you edit faster, it can clean up your sound, but if you

think it can replace you, you're kind of missing the point of what podcasting is.

Because the very thing listeners come for you is the one thing

that AI can never be you.

It can mimic your tone.

It can't mimic your intention.

It can sound confident, but it can't care.

and this is exactly the part that Inception point AI doesn't get.

And the reason why Janine's gonna hate me.

Because they're selling you the illusion of authenticity, not the real thing.

And they're telling you that this sort of stuff, it's just out there,

so it's gonna get audience, therefore you are gonna make money from it.

It's not how it works.

And Janine.

If you'd spend more than five minutes actually figuring out what

podcasting is, rather than destroying the company you are once the CEO

of you might have realized this,

but here's the real danger that I want to address in this episode.

When audiences get used to this kind of empty, frictionless content, then

everything else starts to get devalued.

It starts to flatten.

You can already hear it happening on TikTok.

Every motivational video sounds exactly the same.

Every voiceover uses the same fake American AI voice reading

from the same recycled script.

Pretty much every video on TikTok actually sounds a little bit like

Mel Gibson now, at least in my ears.

And the moment we stopped noticing that and caring about that.

That's when creativity dies, and this is why Janine and her team at Inception

point are frankly fu&^ing dangerous because the people who win at podcasting

aren't the ones with the most gear or the best SEO or the flashiest editing even.

They're the ones who feel something when they're talking to you.

The ones who aren't afraid to say, yeah, you know what?

This didn't work.

It's a bit crap, but here's what I learned from doing it.

That's the kind of moment that no algorithm can fake.

So if you are a creator thinking about ai, optimizing your podcast.

Here's my general rule of thumb for you to follow.

That will hopefully keep you on the right side of the tracks on this.

Use AI to enhance your process, not replace it, so sure, let AI handle

your transcripts, your show notes, your episode descriptions, et cetera.

Your repurposing.

Yeah, great.

But when it comes to the producing of the actual content.

Through this mic thing.

Remember these three points.

Rule one, your voice is the most important aspect, so don't sanitize your quirks.

If you've got a weird laugh, strange accent, or you're incredibly blunt,

hello, then that's your brand.

It's what makes you real.

Don't replace that with copy paste voices.

Rule two, the value.

Don't fill feeds with stuff.

Say something that actually offers benefit to somebody.

in an ideal world, your ideal listener.

Even if that means one shorter, sharper episode instead of a weekly barrage of

waffle, that's always the best route.

Rule three is vulnerability.

Be human.

Share what you think, even if it's a bit messy, in fact, especially if it's messy.

That's what separates you from how to make money from Quiet, please.

Podcasts produced by Inception Point ai.

I can help you make money.

Sure you can love.

If you've been wondering whether your own podcast sounds a little too

robotic, or you're not sure what's working and what's just filler, that's

literally what I help people fix.

You can book in now for one of my podcast audits.

I listen, I diagnose, and I tell you exactly what's holding your show back

with no sugarcoating and no AI fluff.

You'll find it at pod mastery.co/light.

That's pod mastery.co/light.

And if you are using AI to clone your own voice, then I suggest

you book this immediately.

Here's your related experiment for this week.

So we've just wanged on about how to.

What Inception point AI is doing with their platform.

Quiet, please.

What I want you to do is pick one of your old episodes,

something you're really proud of.

Then upload the transcript of that into an AI tool like chat, GPT, Claude,

or whatever it is that you like.

And ask it to rewrite this episode to sound more professional and polished

then, and this is the key bit.

Record.

That version so that you can play it back to back with your original and do that.

Listen to them one after the other, and I want you to make

a note of these two things.

Which one makes you feel something?

Which one sounds like a person who's actually lived what they're saying?

That's the difference that you are looking to achieve with your podcast.

If after listening to both versions, you think that chat GT's actually

nailed it better, there's a hint that maybe what you are putting out there

into the world isn't quite as good as you might think it is, and therefore

you might wanna look at some coaching.

Here's the deal.

AI will probably nail the structure.

It will never nail the soul.

It will never nail the belief.

It'll give you cleaner phrasing, but it won't help you with the micro hesitations

and the rhythm of real thought.

You know, there's off the cuff.

Hmm, that tell you listener, your human.

Once you hear the difference, you'll never unhear it.

That's the sound of trust and you can't prompt that into existence.

Every episode I like to address some listener feedback, whether that's coming

through email at po mastery.co/contact, or via voicemail pod mastery.co/voicemail.

This one is from James in Manchester and again.

When we don't have a voicemail, we do use ai.

For the voices of listeners,

here's James's email.

Well, James, you've nailed exactly the problem that most podcasters

face, so thanks very much for writing and bringing this to my attention.

Sounds like you're in that precarious middle, as I call it, so you're too

far along to call it an experiment at this stage, but you are too

early to call it a polished product.

So here's how I see it, and the advice I'd give you if you are one of my clients.

First of all, map your core message.

Before you push your podcast out into the world, are you able to sum it

up in one crisp sentence that your listener will actually care about?

What problem do you solve and who exactly is it for?

Then set guardrails for your promotion.

Decide in advance.

I'm only gonna promote when I have at least three episodes with

coherent messaging, clear cover art, and a rough social media plan,

and use that as your checkpoint.

Use what I call momentum windows as well.

Be smart about it.

If you feel ready ish, use some short bursts of promotion, maybe

a week of guess swaps, a couple of focused, you know, clips.

For Meta and Google, not a full launch campaign, just get some feedback

in to guide your next refinements,

so don't pause it entirely.

I'd say just don't spray the promotion randomly either.

Use the data that you have to validate your direction.

Sharpen your messaging and then promote with a bit more confidence.

I would say,

and I would say this, if you want me to look more in depth at your positioning,

what you are doing to promote your show and the actual content itself, that's

exactly what I do in a podcast audit.

So consider grabbing one of those if things don't improve for you.

Thanks again, James.

Well, thanks very much for listening.

And here's what I want you to take away from this week's episode.

AI isn't evil, it is efficient, but efficiency is the opposite of intimacy.

And podcasting thrives on intimacy.

So next time you are tempted to automate your voice, Remember this rule of

three, which I mentioned to you earlier.

Number one, your voice be unmistakably you.

Even if that means taking a bit longer to get that out into the world.

Number two, value, offer it.

Say something that matters more than it sells.

Number three, vulnerability.

Show bits of yourself that robots would delete.

That's how you stay human in a machine world.

If this episode resonated with you and you think somebody you know might

benefit from listening or watching, please do send them to pod mastery.co.

If you haven't yet, give us a follow in whatever your podcast app of choice is,

and although they make absolutely no difference to the show's success, but

they feel good, if you fancy leaving me a review in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, cast

Box, or any of the other platforms that allow you to leave comments, please do.

I really appreciate it.

Until the next episode, good luck continuing your journey.

To attaining POD mastery.