For many years I would entertain myself with podcasts from Radiolabs, an NPR-backed radio program that combines interviews and sound effects into interesting and thought-provoking half-hour segments. However, once the main hosts retired, most of the new content isn't....well...new. New hosts chime in in the beginning only to reintroduce previous stories. So, sadly, Radiolabs is no longer a reliable source for my nightly entertainment.
As an author, I have previously written about the dangers of using AI for research. It makes many mistakes, sometimes spitting out text contrary to the truth, but in a self-assured manner. I even challenged it one day, openly asking, "Why are you lying?" So AI (ChatGPT in particular at the moment) should not be used for that purpose.
However, I discovered a new use for those looking to entertain themselves, and it has become my recent guilty pleasure. I often find that the subjects I’m curious about have surprisingly few books or podcasts to explore. Or maybe I don't want to read an entire book on the subject matter; I'd rather have a light and airy approach. So I created a Youtube playlist on my channel consisting of three-minute narrative pieces called Audio Reflections.
Using ChatGPT, I feed in my specific topic. Here's one of my actual ChatGPT prompts:
Write a 385-word podcast narration on why we still have anxieties about things we said and did long ago. Give specific examples.
If I feel that the narration is lacking in depth, I ask it to give more examples or add more words. Once I approve it, I take it over to ElevenLabs.io and choose a narrator to read it. Finally, I combine the audio and an image using Flex, an online video creator. (Most social media platforms don't allow you to share audio-only files.)
What I like about this approach is I am choosing topics that don't require hard-core facts. In a way, we all know why we have past anxieties, but it's nice to hear someone discuss it back to you. Years ago I discovered that one of the things that gives me great joy is having someone else read my own work. This is why I have now turned four of my books into audiobooks. So, even though I am not writing the Audio Reflections narrations myself, it's nice to know that I can feed an AI machine things that I am curious about and be entertained in that way.
Subscribe to my Youtube Playlist and hopefully you will find my topics worth listening to. Here is one on living alone in retirement.
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