AI vs. Humans: Who Should Write Your Podcast Show Notes?

Is this like that movie Ex Machina?

While not as life-or-death as some of the decisions made by the characters in Alex Garland’s 2014 film, content creators in 2023 face an interesting decision: who, or what exactly, should write their podcast show notes? With advances in AI technology, like ChatGPT and copywriting software tools like Jasper, Copy.ai, or Podium (which is for creators who generate audio and video content), creators can now choose between human writers and AI ones. This article dives into the pros and cons of each option, and why it doesn’t have to be “either/or”.

Are show notes really that important?

We actually already wrote about this—read up here.

The human touch

Nothing is more personal than the human touch—especially yours. You created the podcast or show, so who best to write up the show notes? You can weave a compelling narrative, talk up your sponsors and guests like no one else can, and connect with your audience on a personal level—something that AI-generated summaries may struggle with. Writing show notes yourself allows for a more authentic representation of your brand and a deeper connection with your audience. Also, the human touch is still the best at fact-checking and understanding the context of each episode. We can catch errors or inconsistencies in the content, helping maintain accuracy and credibility.

Keep in mind that maintaining “the human touch” doesn’t necessarily mean you yourself has to write all your show notes—if you’re lucky enough to have a producer, production team, or co-host, you can delegate to them, and they will understand your content either as well as you do, or sometimes better!

The robots are taking over

On the other hand, AI-powered copywriting and content generation apps like Podium, which are made for podcasts (and eventually video content), can generate great podcast show notes in minutes flat. Nothing will replace the human touch, but these AI tools are really good: PodiumGPT uses the latest in AI text generation, GPT-4, which means that when you’re using tools at the bleeding-edge of AI, the summaries, transcripts, chapters, key takeaways, and anything you can dream of really, come straight off the press with an uncanny realism and authenticity. And with incredible speed and efficiency, to boot. For busy podcasters who are one a tight time-budget and financial budget, this can be a game-changer for productivity, effectively transferring more time back to creating the core content—the stuff you actually like doing.

Using the right prompts, it can really feel like the robots are taking over, because the raw AI output these days is just crazy!

The hybrid approach (singularity 😉)

As with most things, it’s more complex and nuanced than just a one-track approach! A hybrid approach strikes the right balance between productivity and quality/authenticity when writing show notes, or any other marketing copy for your podcast or show.

Normally how it goes, is that you prompt the AI tool to generate show notes for you, or maybe one of the smaller components of show notes if you want to get surgical: E.g. “Write a short blurb about my sponsor, Redwood Coffee, and their latest line of coffee, called Fireproof. Use the language I used in my show.”

It will likely generate something that’s pretty good, but most of the time, not perfect. That’s where you come in! Now you’ve got a fantastic starting point that you can refine into something that truly makes sense for your audience.

Using AI-generated show notes as a foundation enables human writers to focus on customizing the tone according to your podcast’s brand, fact-checking, and adding any missing details or links. This collaborative process results in a polished, accurate, and engaging final product that can appeal to your audience—and guess what, you probably did it in way less time.

So, which is best for me?

You guess it, but the decision between human and AI-generated podcast show notes ultimately comes down to you the podcaster/creator. You’ll have to decide on factors like budget, time constraints, and the desired level of personalization. If you really value a highly personalized tone, or your podcast and audience’s culture is oddly specific, you might want to just write your show notes yourself, every time—and that’s okay! But if your audience just needs to get from point A to point B (i.e. just needs the quick lowdown of what you’re talking about and jump straight into the podcast), folding AI into the writing flow can be a massive boost to productivity.

As technologies like Podium continue to evolve, it's likely that the line between human and AI-generated content will blur. Regardless, podcasters and creators should stay abreast about new developments in the industry and be open to adopting innovative solutions that best suit their unique requirements, because just because it might/might not not work for you now, it definitely doesn’t mean it won’t work for you in a few years’ time.

In the end, the goal remains the same: to provide high-quality, engaging show notes that help ease your listener’s decision making when choosing your podcast, boost SEO so you can be discovered organically in searches, and grow your show’s audience.