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(By Troy Price) I get to work from home. Other than the infrequent webinars, I could easily go a week without seeing anyone other than family. This lifestyle has some interesting side effects. One day this past week I looked down at my body and was shocked at how I dressed that morning.
My pants were a length just a bit longer than my wife’s capri pants. My untucked shirt was just a little bit shorter than some of my wife’s dresses. On the first day I noticed this I chuckled a little bit. I was not concerned until I looked down later in the week and noticed I was wearing a completely different outfit that I could describe the same way. I was starting to dress like I had already retired to a beach in the Caribbean.
Working in isolation you have an environment with limited social expectations (particularly regarding clothing) and limited honest feedback about your choices. This allows you to retreat to your most basic instincts regarding your attire and other aspects of your work.
Here is where I am going with this…
Podcasters also work in isolation. With that comes limited social expectations and limited honest feedback. In that environment there is a constant pull to our most basic natures. We can become our worst selves behind the microphone.
With that in mind, I challenge you.
I challenge you to remember this is always a temptation and yet stay true to the cause that lead you to begin podcasting. If you are a business podcaster, talk about your unique perspective and do not over quote Ayn Rand or use all the other popular go to catchphrases. Your perspective matters. If you are a comedy podcaster, follow your genius and creativity to places that will not land every time. Do not rely on the F-bombs or tired gags speak for you. And if you are any kind of personal interest podcaster, be it true crime or purple warbler watching, rely on your perspective, your genius, your language to make your show your own. That is the way you bring your humanity to your podcast.
Scientists in Artificial Intelligence (“AI”), specifically those that create ‘chat bots’ have a measure they call the Turing Test. AI can pass this test when it can talk or text with someone, and the person on the other end of the conversation cannot tell if they are talking to a person or a program. AI is very close to being able to do this reliably. My concern is if we, as podcasters, continue to all use the same language, and tell the same jokes in attempts to gain larger audiences, we ourselves could begin failing the Touring Test and our listeners would confuse us with some AI that is trying to sell them a mattress, postage, or audio book.
_Troy Price is the co-founder of _Front Porch Studios_ in Berea, Kentucky. He’s been involved with podcasting for over a decade. Reach Troy by email at _Troy@frontporchstudios.com.
Comments:
Haha! Troy - I thought this article was about taking one’s podcast on the road… but it actually took a different turn - to Alan Turing! :) Good stuff - thanks!