Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Andrew Sanford | News | September 10, 2025
Podcasts have long been one of the easiest things you can make. You need something to record you and a place to upload that audio (or video). Wanting it to sound “good” takes more effort, of course. Nailing down an RSS feed can be a process. However, I knew folks who would sit around someone’s iPhone, chat for a bit, and throw the conversation online. I still know people who do that.
They get listeners, too. It may not be on the level of your Joe Rogans or Marc Marons, but people listen. And, to be fair, a lot of popular podcasts have humble beginnings. But people held on to and felt close to them because they were real people talking about their real lives and/or the real subjects they were covering. It wasn’t a bunch of AI slop.
One company is convinced that the human element of podcasting is overrated, and has been flooding the zone with 5000 AI podcasts generating 3000 episodes a week (Jesus Christ). In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Inception Point AI pushed their business model of paying $1 to develop an episode and just tossing it out there. This way, they can avoid all of those nasty production costs.
Why are they so afraid of paying people? Because the CEO, Jenine Wright, is formerly from Wondery, a podcast company producing shows with folks like Dax Shepard and Keke Palmer. They likely pay quite a bit to produce their wide variety of shows. But why be beholden to human beings or artists when you can simply put out some slop? And, if half the population will be AI soon, will anyone know the difference?
That’s what Wright claims in the interview. I’m not even exaggerating. “We believe that in the near future half the people on the planet will be AI, and we are the company that’s bringing those people to life,” she said, with, presumably, a straight face. That’s some of the dumbest shi*t I’ve heard in the discussion around generative AI, and that’s really saying something.
It also feels like a pretty clear tactic. The output of the company alone shows that they view these podcasts merely as content. That’s why they think releasing so many will be effective. They want to corner the market with bullsh**. Then, they can pretend that’s not what they’re doing, because they’re trying to pretend these fake-ass people are not only real but can be counted in a census, I guess?
Wright goes on to say those who call Gen-AI slop are Luddites (I’d love to know which of those 5000 podcasts she actually listens to). She’s really missing the bigger picture. People like people. They become obsessed with celebrities because they are real. They want to get to know the people they’re listening to, and maybe even go see them live sometimes!
The human connection is important, and can lead to even cooler things. I was entering Midtown Comics on 40th Street last week while listening to a new episode of Blank Check. I waited to climb the narrow staircase as someone made their way down it. That person was Griffin Newman, one of the hosts of Blank Check, and I got to tell him that I was listening to him right then and that he’s awesome. He said, “That’s crazy, thanks,” and we both went about our days.
That’s a pretty unique experience, but it’s possible because the person I was listening to is a living, breathing human being. Unless Wright’s crazy prediction that the population will become half AI (it’s stupider every time I write it) comes to pass, which I highly doubt, I’ll never be able to have such an encounter with an AI host. They aren’t real (but also, I don’t talk to slop).
