Are You Listening?

In today’s fast-paced world, staying ahead of the curve in your career means consuming a lot of content. But with the sheer volume of information out there and only so many hours in the day, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to keep up. One trend I’ve noticed in my own content consumption habits is the significant increase in audio content compared to a few years ago.

The Rise of Text-to-Speech

I’ve always been an audiobook enthusiast (shoutout to my trusty Audible subscription), and I even gave a speech in freshman English about podcasts way back when. But recently, I’ve observed a surge in audio content generated from text.

It started a couple of years ago when I became obsessed with an app called Audm, which hired quality voice actors to read content from the New York Times and other publishers. The New York Times subsequently acquired Audm, and now we’re seeing audio players at the top of articles across various publications.

These “reporter reads” are fantastic, especially when you can listen to the voice of the person who wrote the article. You often get additional insights about their process, how they reached their conclusions, and why they started down that particular path in the first place.

However, not all audio content is created equal. Sometimes, instead of the actual reporter or a professional narrator, you get a robotic AI voice. The quality can range from flawless to downright creepy.

Experimenting with AI-Powered Audio Tools

At Creative Energy, one of our hallmarks is producing a consistent stream of thought leadership and useful insights through our newsletter, website, and industry publications. Most of this content is text-based, but we’ve been exploring ways to leverage AI to rethink how we produce audio content.

Eleven Labs: The Voice Cloning Revolution

Eleven Labs claims to be the premier platform for AI voices. They have an incredible database of lifelike voices that not only sound real but also include accents, inflections, and small mannerisms that make a human voice feel authentic.

What blew my mind is that with just one minute of recorded audio (even pulled from a YouTube video), they can recreate your voice to a degree that’s both impressive and slightly unsettling.

After 60 seconds of ranting at my phone to get a voice sample, my voice was cloned and ready to read anything I threw at it. Check this out:

While it’s not perfect, the potential is undeniable. With a bit of tweaking and experimentation with their style sliders, you can achieve some remarkably convincing results.

Another example: this is a cloned Tony Treadway reciting lyrics from Johnson City’s un-official anthem:

While again, not perfect. Eleven labs was able to create that Tiny-Tony™️ from the audio of a 60 second clip of a youtube interview I found of Tony. Mind boggling. 

Google’s Notebook LLM: AI-Powered Content Creation

Another platform I have been experimenting with extensively is Google’s NotebookLM. This powerful AI allows you to input a large number of sources (websites, text, PDFs, spreadsheets) and then have conversations with that collection of knowledge. You’re basically building an external expert brain on whatever subject you want.  (similar to Claude Projects)

As a proof of concept, I uploaded three months’ worth of insights and blog posts from the Creative Energy website. Last month I had NotebookLM and Claude 3.5 help me write a 5 minute podcast script summarizing the quarter’s insights into a package I know our clients would love. 

My intention was to then use the Eleven Lab voice clones I made to “record” the podcast itself. In a couple hours of work I could create podcasts, starring my coworkers, covering our agency work and process, all without anyone having to schedule time in the studio or find their pandemic-purchased Yeti microphone. 

But then, this weekend, Google upgraded NotebookLM with what might be the single coolest AI feature I have played with. I can now create an “Audio Overview” of any of my notebooks automatically. Audio Overviews are lively “deep dive” discussions that summarize the key topics in your sources. 

Let me say that in a different way: with a single click I can now create an episode of a podcast with no title, voiced by anonymous hosts, discussing a topic I chose, that noone will ever hear besides me. (and now you)

The Future of Content Creation and Consumption

As a strategist who professionally needs to learn about new topics quickly, I’ve found this AI-powered approach to be incredibly valuable. You can input all your raw notes, articles, and research, and within minutes have a niche podcast episode created just for you. And it feels like magic.

At Creative Energy, we’re exploring these new ways to turn existing content, proprietary knowledge, and 1st-party-data into hard hitting thought leadership and helping clients find innovative new ways to communicate with their customers.

The pace at which these AI tools are improving is staggering. While they’re not perfect yet, it’s not hard to imagine a near future where AI-generated content becomes increasingly indistinguishable from human-created content.

As we navigate this new landscape, it’s crucial to consider the ethical implications and maintain a balance between leveraging AI tools and preserving the human touch that makes great content truly resonate.

What are your thoughts on the rise of AI in content creation and consumption? Have you experimented with any of these tools? I’d love to hear about your experiences. Email me bradleyeshbach@cenergy.com