Using ChatGPT to Generate a Podcast Script: A Case Study

Can ChatGPT be utilized to create a podcast script? That was the question our team at MakeUseOf sought to answer. With the emergence of ChatGPT 3.5 and the growing interest in generative AI, we decided to explore this technology's potential in a new way by scripting an episode of our podcast.

Why Choose ChatGPT for a Podcast Script?

Given our frequent discussions about ChatGPT and other AI applications on MakeUseOf's Really Useful Podcast, it seemed fitting to explore this topic further. Generative AI has the potential to be a powerful time-saving tool, and we wanted to examine how it could enhance our podcast.

Additionally, we were intrigued by the challenge of using AI to create an interesting and engaging script. Could generative AI effectively "write" content that captivates listeners, or would it fall flat?

To spark a fresh conversation about ChatGPT, our podcast team—consisting of myself, Christian Cawley, Ben Stegner (site editor-in-chief), and Gavin Phillips (Tech Explained editor)—decided to employ this technology to script an episode.

Integrating ChatGPT Into the Really Useful Podcast Format

The Really Useful Podcast covers a wide range of topics, including tech news, explanations, tips and tricks, and recommendations. Its format is more complex than a simple storytelling or gossip-oriented show.

Integrating ChatGPT into our podcast format presented some challenges. Typically, we prepare the show with an outline of links and build the structure from there. However, using ChatGPT for scripting meant we had to rely on it to provide a more comprehensive structure.

Despite the risk of creating a final product that sounded different from our usual episodes, we believed it was worth exploring how ChatGPT could contribute to the podcast.

3 Limitations of ChatGPT's Scriptwriting Abilities

While working on the script with ChatGPT, we encountered several limitations that became apparent during the instruction process:

Topical Writing Limitations: ChatGPT 3.5 is not suitable for topical writing, as it has been trained on a dataset up until September 2021. As a result, we had to retain the conversational style for the news section of the show. However, we did use ChatGPT to create the introduction to this section.

Understanding Challenges: Generative AI poses challenges for editors. While some publications are replacing writers with AI, others recognize that AI lacks the unique insights a human writer can provide in explainers, guides, and step-by-step instructions. We found that asking ChatGPT to re-interpret the articles we used for our explainers section didn't always yield precise dialogue. As a result, we used ChatGPT only for the introduction to this section.

Lack of Recommendations: Due to legal considerations, ChatGPT is unable to make recommendations. When we attempted to instruct it to introduce a podcast section on recommending technology, it consistently responded with a message indicating its inability to fulfill this request. We incorporated a condensed version of this "script" in the recorded podcast.

The Outcome of the ChatGPT-Scripted Podcast

To record our AI-generated episode of the Really Useful Podcast, both myself and Ben Stegner received a copy of the script. We created it by copying ChatGPT's responses into a shared Google Doc.

After the theme tune and greetings, the episode began with an intro generated by ChatGPT in response to the prompt: "Write an intro for the podcast 'The Really Useful Podcast'." The result was quite satisfactory and aligned with our expectations.

We also included a disclaimer in the show, acknowledging that the podcast episode had been scripted by ChatGPT. We made it clear that each ChatGPT-scripted dialogue would be preceded by a specific sound effect.

The introduction to the news section was created by ChatGPT in response to the prompt: "Write an introduction to news items about Elon Musk banning the NYT from a Twitter blue flag, ChatGPT being banned in Italy, and the 50th anniversary of the mobile phone." The result aligned with our requirements.

For the middle section of the show, which covered explainers, tips, and tricks, we used ChatGPT to generate the introduction based on the prompt: "Write an introduction to a discussion about decrypting ransomware, games not working on Windows 11, and why you shouldn't pay to use Microsoft Word." Once again, ChatGPT provided a suitable introduction.

However, when it came to scripting a section on tech recommendations, ChatGPT repeatedly responded with a variation of: "As an AI language model, I cannot comment or recommend the creation of a podcast on behalf of individuals or organizations." We included a condensed version of this response in the recorded podcast.

The final episode, which combined the scripted sections, can be found on Spotify, and listeners can subscribe on Apple Podcasts. For a glimpse of the ChatGPT-generated sections, I have edited them into a condensed version.

Should You Use ChatGPT to Write a Podcast?

Based on our experience of using ChatGPT to script a significant portion of this podcast, I have reached a few conclusions:

First and foremost, ChatGPT is excellent for outlining and providing structure. It understands formats and can help guide your content creation process.

However, ChatGPT has limitations when it comes to topical material, providing unique insights, and making recommendations. It's not effective to request dialogue or prose in these areas.

Overall, ChatGPT offers reasonably good variation in language use, although there may be some repetition or excessive verbosity. Despite this, it produces sufficient material that can be used, even if some editing is required.

Therefore, if you are considering using ChatGPT to script your podcast, it's worth investing time in crafting specific prompts. That said, for the Really Useful Podcast, we don't have immediate plans to use ChatGPT again in the near future.