One day, reading a Kindle book and getting a bit bogged down, my mind wandering at the slightest distraction, I thought, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if someone could read this to me?” I’d have to pay attention to keep up with the reader. Maybe I could read the words as I listened. Two inputs. That sounded good.
So, I Googled how to turn a Kindle book into an audiobook and other variations of those words. The search results appeared. I followed links, watched a million YouTube videos, read a few articles, and explored dozens of text-to-speech apps.
I discovered that my iPhone will read anything onscreen for me, including Kindle books. I can even change the voices of the reader: male, female, Australian, English, American, Scottish.
That might have been sufficient, but the Speechify app with its celebrity voices tempted me. It was rather expensive, but my love, Andy, said, “Go buy it. You’ll use it!” So I did.
I downloaded the Speechify app, connected it to my Kindle account and continued reading the book, Tiny Experiments. It all worked well except for an added pause between words every now and then.
Speechify can read web articles as well as Kindle books, so I imported a few to listen to. And that’s when I discovered something exciting: Speechify can make podcasts from whatever we’re reading. AI podcast hosts can discuss the main ideas that we’re trying to absorb.
I wondered if I could generate podcasts based on my blog posts. Could I find something that would explain the main ideas in my unschooling posts via some AI discussions? More thinking. More research. More app trials.
I found Google Notebook LM and used it to generate some Deep Dive unschooling conversations. The AI hosts seemed to understand exactly what I’d said in my posts! I uploaded the audio podcasts to my Stories of an Unschooling Family blog.
I worked out how to add chapter headings, hooks, and quotes to supplement the audio files. Finally, I uploaded PDFs of the audio transcripts.
Then, using the Clippit app, I generated some podcasts based on my Wholy Souly posts.
But that wasn’t enough. I wasn’t finished. Could I turn my audio podcasts into videos? What if I added images and captions?
Many hours later, after playing around with the PowerDirector and VEED apps, I had some videos that I posted on YouTube.
So, here is a video based on my last blog post, A Story Within a Story. The pretend podcast host seems to love the concept of layering novels within novels. I think she enjoyed my post!
And here’s a video telling my Complement story.
Finally, the pretend podcast host decided to tell my Plenty story, leaving it at a meatball cliffhanger moment!
Is it okay to use AI to generate podcasts with pretend hosts? As long as we’re not pretending to be someone else, I think this is a fun and creative idea to promote my blog posts. What do you think?
So, do you like to listen to books instead of reading them? Maybe you like to do both?
Have you experimented with AI? Are you excited by the creative possibilities AI gives us? Or do you think we ought to avoid it? I’ve come across many YouTube channels with fake news of AI people pretending to be celebrities. I imagine that’s very frustrating and even dangerous for the real people.
I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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I would much rather read a book than have it read to me. I’ve always been that way. I think because of my ADD my mind wanders too easily. My adult son who still lives at home Nathan who has special needs would rather have something read to him then he read himself as he is not a fluent reader
Nancy,
I never used to enjoy listening to a book read out loud. Oh yes, my mind wandered too! But I’ve now had a lot of listening practice with podcasts. I’ve got used to listening to someone else’s voice. What I like best is listening and reading at the same time! 😊
Oh Sue! One of the reasons I listen and re-listen to your podcasts is because I love YOUR voice so much! It’s so soothing that I could listen to you talk about anything– the weather, your to-do list, reciting the alphabet. Ha! But you talk about things dear to my heart in such beautiful words that it’s just not the same to hear them in someone else’s voice. You’d surely be missed!
Oh Sue! One of the reasons I listen and re-listen to your podcasts is because I love YOUR voice so much! It’s so soothing that I could listen to you talk about anything– the weather, your to-do list, reciting the alphabet. Ha! But you talk about things dear to my heart in such beautiful words that it’s just not the same to hear them in someone else’s voice. You’d surely be missed!
Katie,
I appreciate your kind words about my voice. I’m glad it’s easy to listen to.
This was one of my little experiments. I wondered what I could create using the new tools I discovered. Making little video podcasts with AI voices was very quick and easy. Putting together the video involved a bit more work. Overall, the process was fun for me. Using my own voice would involve so much more work – I’d need to write scripts, then record and edit the audio – so I’m unlikely to do things that way.
As you probably know, I haven’t made any new Stories of an Unschooling Family podcasts for a long time. However, I have been podcasting with Cecilie Conrad and Sandra Dodd. We did season 2 of The Ladies Fixing the World podcast together. Soon, we’ll be releasing Season 3. I wonder if you’ve listened to any of our episodes.
Good to chat with you, Katie! 😊
I’ll have to agree with Katie. It’s not my favorite.
I am both fascinated and afraid of AI. Its ability to articulate is amazing. Being able to tell what’s for real however, is what is unsettling.
I don’t like the way it enhances things or makes them sound robotic. It’s lacking in depth. I simply like you best!
Michelle,
Thank you for saying you like me best! ❤️
AI is definitely problematic, but it opens up many creative opportunities. I uploaded these little promotional videos to YouTube hoping they’d direct viewers to my blog and my stories that were definitely written by me! Using AI voices might give the best results, but making the videos with my own voice would take more time and work than I’m willing to give.
I might continue to experiment with the videos. Maybe using an AI voice from a third-person perspective might work better. Have the host talk about me instead of pretending to be me.
Whether the videos work or not, I think the main thing for me is experimenting and enjoying learning new things!
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! 😊
The question that comes to mind is: Why should I take the time to listen to something that no one has taken the time to think up and record?
That’s a fair point, though I did write the stories that the podcasts are based on. AI didn’t write them. I just used a tech tool to present my stories in a new way. But, of course, that might not appeal to you. You might not think it’s worth listening to the podcasts. That’s okay! I did an experiment, and I’m now receiving feedback. Thank you for your comment.