This session drilled down to the part AI tools play crafting the storytelling process used on three different Asian audio platforms to create engaging content, driving up listening hours and also revenue.
“By using AI tools we make an average writer an exceptional writer,” said Prateek Dixit Cofounder Pocket FM from India. “We’ve also had an average growth of 30% in the last 6 months.”
Pocket FM is a global audio series platform and app that specialises in episodic audio story telling across a range of genres in many different languages. Users begin by accessing free content then move to making microtransactions, buying individual episodes in some very long series.
By using AI one story is produced in many formats: video, novel, audio series and cartoons.
The platform uses three AI tools:
1.Atlas is the adaptation tool used to convert to other languages and make cultural adjustments.
2. CoPilot is like having a writing team for support including feedback from directors and editors. The tool need to help the writer create the next blockbuster.
3. Blaze is the AI Comics studio and is used to convert stories to the comic format.
“We’ve also had an average growth of 30% in the last 6 months,” said Prateek
“Our goal was to create the first media company to expand outside the Philippines,” said Ron Baetiong Founder and CEO of Podcast Network Asia.
“People liked our content but it was initially hard to monetise…. so we looked to the example of Pocket FM and created seryefm (The Philippines’s Premier Short form Audio Platform).
“We’re the best at gossip in the Philippines so it explains audio drama as our fastest growing area of audio content.”
“We built a dedicated platform for serialised audio content and we used Generative AI for script writing, voice talent (for non main protagonist roles) and post production.”
Podcast Network Asia made the first 7 episodes available for free, then introduced a pay wall.
The highest earning show Between the Rainbow was a BL/ GL series, a niche offering.
“We know how to crack content and monetisation,” said Bactiong.
In the future the company would like to use its audio back catalogue to create content for our platform using AI.
“Story is our bread and butter,” said Citra Prastuti Director/ Chief Editor KBR Media in Indonesia. “We’ve built it with journalism for the last 25+ years and audio for the most part.”
KBR Media aims to make podcasts that are quality content produced by values driven creators (with a journalism touch) that will create a healthy ecosystem that we need to protect our democracy.
“We wanted to engage Gen Z to talk about important issues so we initiated our Podcast Hunt. This project was about finding content creators showing them how to build podcasts in ethical ways by working with aspiring podcasters.
“We start with our stories that matter to audience to stay connected and relevant. Now we we engage with youth so we can create our stories together and turn stories into meaningful actions.”
Inclusivity is a strong value for KBR. “We use it as our superpower. In the future we need more inclusive storytellers.”
What KBR needs for the future are human story tellers. Citra quoted academic, Mario Garcia, “To be superhuman today is to fiercely defend what machines cannot replicate: emotional depth, lived experience and moral imagination…”
When asked by James Cridland Radio Futorologist Podnews, about Citra’s use of AI in generating stories she said, “Use of AI needs to be made clear to the audience. We’ve built tools into our workflow for production but need to be careful using AI with illustrations and summarisation.”