Tried & Tested: Practical AI Tools for Podcast Production.

From researching a new podcast idea to recording remote interviews and creating social clips, could AI save radio professionals hours of work?

AI is moving quickly, but knowing which tools are actually useful is another matter. For radio professionals, journalists, producers, podcasters and media students, the challenge isn't finding another AI tool. It's finding the tools that genuinely make your working day easier without adding another complicated platform to learn.

That’s where our new Tried & Tested (so you don’t have to) series comes in. We’ll explore practical tools that can help people working in radio and media save time, improve their content and make the most of the resources they already have.

In a recent Learning Waves training course session, Patrick Haughley from Audio Brand explored how AI can help take a podcast idea from an initial concept through to research, production and promotion. Here are some of the tools and techniques worth knowing about.

Gemini Notebook: Your AI Research Partner

Google’s Notebook is a free AI research tool powered by Gemini that allows you to bring your own sources together and use AI to analyse the information. Instead of simply asking an AI chatbot to tell you about a topic, you give Gemini Notebook the material you want it to work from and use it as a research partner.

Imagine you have an idea for a new current affairs podcast. Instead of spending hours reading through reports and articles individually, you could bring your sources into Gemini Notebook and use AI to identify key themes, gaps, potential talking points and questions worth investigating. This can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of an idea before investing more time and resources into it.

Audio Overviews: Turn Your Research Into a Conversation

This is where Gemini Notebook gets particularly interesting for people working in audio.

Its Audio Overview feature can turn information from your sources into an AI-generated discussion between virtual hosts.

Patrick demonstrated this using a podcast concept called “Last Train to the Ground”, a proposed show exploring the logistics of attending major sporting events. A sample script generated in Claude was uploaded to Gemini Notebook, which then created an audio conversation exploring the concept, its potential audience and possible weaknesses.

For people who work in radio, there is an obvious benefit: you can listen to your research. Audio Overviews can also be customised by format and focus, including deeper discussions, shorter briefings, critique and debate formats. If your job is built around listening, why not make your research listenable too?

Riverside: Remote Recording Without Sacrificing Quality

If you've ever recorded a remote interview, you'll know the frustration. One person sounds great, the other sounds like they're speaking from inside a washing machine, the internet drops and suddenly your “quick interview” has become an editing nightmare.

Patrick compared traditional video conferencing tools such as Zoom with Riverside. The main advantage of Riverside is its approach to recording: each participant is recorded locally on their own device, helping preserve recording quality even when the internet connection isn't perfect. It also creates separate audio and video tracks for participants, making post-production much easier.

Riverside is not free, with plans starting from €24 per month. However, if you're looking for a free alternative, Zencastr and Airtape are two options worth exploring for remote podcast and interview recording.

Riverside's AI Features: From One Recording to Multiple Pieces of Content

Recording your podcast is only half the job. Then comes editing, captions, show notes, social media and promotional clips. This is where AI-powered production tools can potentially save a lot of time.

Riverside's AI features include tools such as Magic Clips, which uses AI to identify highlights from a recording and turn them into short-form clips for social media. It also offers AI-powered captioning and show notes features, depending on the subscription plan.

Imagine recording a 45-minute interview, but instead of listening back through the entire recording looking for the three best moments for social media, AI can help identify potential highlights. You still need to review them, but you've got a starting point. That's where AI becomes particularly powerful for small media teams. It's not necessarily creating more content, it's helping you get more value from the content you've already created.

Our Biggest Takeaway?

The most useful AI tools aren't necessarily the ones that create something from nothing. They're the ones that help you do more with the work you've already done. At Learning Waves, we're going to keep exploring practical tools and technology that can help radio professionals and media teams work smarter.

No endless lists of “100 AI tools you NEED to try”, no complicated tech jargon, just useful tools, real-world applications and an honest look at what's actually worth your time.

Got an AI tool you've been wondering about? Let us know! It might be next on our Tried & Tested list.