It sounds like two chatbots arguing over dinner. Or worse. Like they agree too much.
I hate it.
Amazon announced it Tuesday. It’s called Alexa Podcasts. It’s the latest feature for Alexa+, their rebooted AI assistant. The pitch is simple. AI-generated audio on any topic you can name. No prep work. No writers. No producers. Just silicon and servers spitting out content on demand.
Essentially? It is podslop.
We are seeing this everywhere. AI audio is flooding the zone. The Podcast Index recently noted that 39% of new uploads were likely AI-generated. Companies are churning it out. Amazon just decided to put their brand name on the mountain.
Prime members can ask for news. Sports results. Movie consensus reviews. You adjust the length with your voice. You pick the personality. “Sweet.” “Sassy.” “Brief.” You want a quick hit? Get the efficient version. You want warmth? Pretend to listen to the warm one.
The output lands on your Echo device. It arrives in the app. Two AI hosts talk to each other. It’s that easy.
Where does the info come from? Since there’s no human digging through archives. Amazon lists over 200 sources. Associated Press, Reuters, The Washington Post. TIME. Forbes. It’s a roll call of legit journalism. But it’s not reading. It’s scraping. Cool. Cool cool.
Everything about it feels wrong. I checked the Soundcloud demos. On Soundcloud of all places.
Why? Why replace Greg Jenner’s meticulous history with generic Roman facts? Who needs investigative depth when convenience is the new god? Why listen to Cole Cuchna break down songs on Dissect when an algorithm can tell you which one is “good”? Why hear real athletes analyze the game?
The answer is lazy.
Podcasts aren’t about the data. The data is free on your phone. The podcast is the voice. It’s Ira Glass making a weird connection. It’s Trixie and Katya laughing at the wrong moment. It’s Hrishikesh Hirway whispering. It’s Matt Rogers being baffling.
Alexa can set the tone to “Sassy.” That is not the same thing. A persona setting isn’t a person. There is a vast distance between code and character.
Platforms are already drowning in AI music and fake audiobooks. Spotify is nervous. Libby is cautious. And now Amazon wants us to treat the dinner table like a lecture hall.
Gathering round the Alexa to hear a robotic recap of Apollo 11. Really?
It’s insulting. Not to our ears. But to our patience. We spend hours seeking voices that sound human because they are. We tolerate the ad reads for the laugh at the end.
Amazon thinks this is helpful. Maybe it is. For robots. I’m leaving.
