“People either have a vision of a Utopian wonderland out there, that we’re going to create all this amazing stuff with AI, or, on the flip side, everybody thinks it’s going to be a dystopian wasteland when we start using AI, and everybody’s going to be out of work, and the robots are going to take over... And it’s very difficult to find anybody that has that middle ground. But it’s conversations like we’re having here that’s going to allow us to establish that middle ground. And as we continue to educate the public, and as we continue to expose these tools and teach people how to use these tools and let them know the limitations of these tools as they exist today, I think more and more people are going to become more and more comfortable with the integration of AI as tools and not replacements.” -- Larry Roberts

Some discussions lend themselves to more than one perspective. That’s definitely the case with sound in social media, and recently I had a Clubhouse room full of experts with a lot to say about it. They are Ross Brand, founder of Livestream Universe and author of the 100 Livestreaming & Digital Media Predictions series; Chris Stone, Chief Content Entrepreneur at Cast Ahead; Sara Lohse, President of Favorite Daughter Media and author of Open This Book: The Art of Storytelling for Aspiring Thought Leaders; and Larry Roberts, CEO of Red Hat Media and co-host of the Branded Podcast. Our round-table discussion covered a lot of information on sound in social media, as you would expect, but we also delved into how AI is shaping that landscape, for better and worse. It made for a fascinating and fun discussion, and I’m glad to be able to share it with you now.

As always, if you have questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes. If you have questions for me, visit audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find a lot of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter will let you know when the new podcasts are available and what the newest audio chats will be about. If you’re getting some value from listening, the best ways to show your support are to share this podcast with a friend and leave an honest review. Both those things really help – and I’d love to feature your review on future podcasts.

(0:00:00) - Sound in Social Media

Our Clubhouse chat starts with introductions from each of our four panelists, and we focus on social media and the role sound plays in getting your message out. “Social media is interesting,” Ross says, “because sometimes you have to change it up as well, which kind of goes against some of the rules of sonic branding.” Chris tells us the simple secret to incorporating video in your audio brand, and Larry and Sara share their thoughts about machine learning and how important it is to keep pace with the growth of AI. “If we’re not aware and we don’t start making the adjustments we need to make this early in the game,” Larry notes, “we’re going to wake up in 12 months and go ‘oh my gosh.’"

(0:14:48) - AI in Audio Production Debate

Ross discusses the AI tools he uses in his studio, and Sara outlines the difference between using AI to improve content versus creating it. “What I don’t necessarily do,” she explains, “is use AI to the degree that some people do for content creation. I’ll do it for ideas, but kind of like what was said before, it’s still about those genuine stories.” We discuss the role that human stories and perspectives play in guiding AI content and the challenge of “AI proofing” the next generation. “I stress, with the people that I work with and myself,” Chris tells us, “to be excellent... at what...