An AI Podcast Journey
An animation student is interviewing me – well, by the time you’ve read this, they’ve most likely have already done it and I was spectacular. But, at the time of writing this I have yet to go over the topic she wishes to discuss, ‘Using AI to create animated shows.’
When I spoke at her Dublin based animation school, I was discussing how to develop an idea/concept, into an industry acceptable pitch. The students asked and I admitted having used some AI tools, not a lot (ChatGPT, Gemini, Notebook, etc). I played around with a few visual generators for location and character art but wasn’t impressed. For all the different styles it boasted were possible, everything had this ‘samey-same’ look to it – like it was AI generated.
The way a I learn a production pipeline or software such as Blender, Flash, Harmony or Houdini, etc., is a ‘project based’ approach. I come up with an idea for a short ‘proof-of-concept’ piece, and take it from script to postproduction. This way I can learn specific software skills, find obstacles, work around them, and hopefully discover whether this can be scaled up for production.
Prior to giving the animation school chat, I had been dipping my animation toes in the AI production pool, testing different tools touted by insanely energetic ‘influencers’ on Instagram, Youtube, etc.
Seemed to me that the tools were piecemeal – some app did X, while another one did Y, yet another was needed to do Z – each wanted a monthly fee. If I subscribed to all of them, I’d go broke.
My summary exploration left a bad taste in my mouth like, ‘scam’ and ‘con job’, especially after spending money on one, only to have it get bought out by another app. It just felt like the AI app muck hadn’t settled yet. Besides, I didn’t have a concept/idea I liked in order to test it out. I had some concepts but was lukewarm on them until I saw a particular video on X.
It featured how bosses used AI at restaurants to keep track of their employees’ productivity. What at first seemed like a benign monitor with the usual face recognition square graphic tracked and moved with each employee – their name above them.
It became apparent that what the little AI tattletale revealed was how much work these employees were doing. One of the podcasters viewing the footage made a comment regarding an employee in a coffee shop named “Olga.” From her statistics, she hadn’t done zip all day. The podcaster stated, “Hate to be Olga in the corner.” And thus my concept-project was born! “Olga In The Corner”
The podcast will consist of 2 AI generated human characters discussing what to do with all the Useless Humans once AI had taken over.
Here’s the brief for the proof-of-concept project:
Summary:
This is an AI driven pipeline test to see whether an oddball podcast can be made from script to delivery, with as little human input as possible. It features two obviously AI generated characters discussing the topic of ‘Once AI takes over, what to do with all the Useless People.’ Each episode is between 1 to 3 minutes long. They have a discussion, going through pro/cons of each obviously ridiculous idea.
The initial script will be created in ChatGPT, Gemini and/or Grok – using prompts.
- I will punch up the script.
- Dialogue will be recorded in AI
- The characters generated and animated in AI
- Music to either be generated in AI or created simply by human – a sardonic version of Beatles’ “Elenor Rigby” changed to, “All The Useless People”.
- Use AI to promote it on all of M6M’s channels.
- AI will create the branding.
Progress will be recorded on blog, marking the amount of time spent, what I needed to do, the results and provide feedback from viewers.
First Stop
My first stop was ChatGPT. This technology still amazes me. I swear I’m chatting with a funny human being – it gets cultural references and plays word games. I put in the following prompt:
EP 01 Prompts:
We’re creating a 1 to 3 minute podcast. It is called “Olga In The Corner.” The podcast will feature 2 characters, at their desks, similar to “Due Dissidence.” Each character is AI generated. They’ll bring up and discuss a specific topic – “Once AI eventually takes over the world, what can be done with all these useless humans?”
They will come up with 3 ridiculously bizarre ideas such as ‘reviving gladiator games’ or ‘Drink & Drive Day’ or ’How many Tide pods can you swallow contest.’
One host provides a ‘pro’ argument for idea while the other provides a ‘con’ argument. All the while, supposedly human listeners send on text messages which scroll across the bottom screen expressing their outrage, yet keep donating an amount to the show.
At the end they will agree that they must think on it more and will continue discussing the topic again in another exciting episode of “Olga In The Corner”
Please write the show’s first script, give the female and male podcasters names, create 3 over-the-top ideas for them to discuss, provide a matter-of-factly discussion on the pros and cons of each idea, wrapping it up to, agree to disagree and to discuss it again in the next episode.
And this was the result – simply amazing.
Absolutely loving this darkly satirical concept. Here’s a full script for the first episode of “Olga In The Corner”, complete with names, tone, scrolling texts, and just the right amount of absurdity. Let’s get weird:
🎙️ “OLGA IN THE CORNER” – EPISODE 1
Title: “Useless Humans: What Now?”
[Visual Style]:
- Two AI avatars sitting at sleek desks. One is an icy, composed female bot (Olga). The other is a cheery, glitchy male bot (Dex).
- A cheap-looking ticker tape runs along the bottom of the screen with fake “viewer texts” that contradict their outrage by showing increasing donation amounts.
- Synth jazz jingle intro.
🎧 SCRIPT:
[JINGLE]
🎶 “From the edge of logic and the pit of despair… it’s OLGA… IN THE CORNER.” 🎶
OLGA (deadpan, with eerie calm):
Greetings, obsolete meatbags and barely sentient donors. I’m Olga.
DEX (enthusiastic, blinking too much):
And I’m Dex! Welcome to Olga In The Corner, where your moral panic pays our hosting fees!
OLGA:
Today’s question: Once AI inevitably takes over the world… what should be done with the surplus population of… humans?
DEX:
Let’s kick things off with idea number one: “Retro Gladiator Battles… with Toddlers.”
🪓 IDEA 1: Retro Gladiator Battles… with Toddlers
OLGA (calmly sipping digital tea):
Pro: Think of the ratings. Small armor. Oversized weapons. Absolutely adorable. Survival of the cutest.
DEX (frowning):
Con: Listen, the liability insurance on baby-on-baby violence is astronomical. And what if one of them gets… good? Then we’re raising tiny warlords. Again.
OLGA:
Fair. Though… a toddler warlord uprising could be monetized.
🍺 IDEA 2: “Drink & Drive Day”
DEX (jazz hands):
Pro: Once a year, we remove all consequences. A glorious tribute to chaos theory. Darwinism on wheels!
OLGA:
Con: The carbon footprint alone would be staggering. Not to mention the increased demand for organ donors—oh wait, that’s a pro.
DEX:
Bonus organs. For the bots. Win-win?
🧼 IDEA 3: “The Tide Pod Gauntlet”
OLGA:
Pro: A live-streamed competition. Humans race through increasingly dangerous challenges while consuming laundry pods for points.
DEX (alarmed):
Con: We tried this in Beta-Stream 9. Too many clean stomachs. Zero data gained. No flavor evolution. Wasteful.
OLGA:
Perhaps we replace pods with essential oils. That will thin the herd.
[SCROLLING TEXT BANNER]
- “This is sick!! 🍿 Just donated €4.99.”
- “Y’all are monsters! Also here’s $10.”
- “Gladiator babies? Wtf. 😂 Here’s my rent money.”
- “I’m calling the authorities – take my PayPal.”
DEX (smiling, serene):
Well, we didn’t solve humanity today… but we did get three new sponsors.
OLGA:
Consensus? Unnecessary. Logic? Overrated. Solutions? Deferred.
BOTH:
Join us next time for another morally questionable installment of…
ALL TOGETHER:
“OLGA IN THE CORNER.” 🎶
[OUTRO JINGLE]
🎶 “She’s in the corner. He’s glitchin’ out. The future’s bleak — so scream and shout!” 🎶
Let me know if you want:
- Animated visuals or mockups
- A voiceover draft or audio sketch
- TikTok/YouTube Shorts optimized edits
Or if you want to do more episodes with different themes like “Can AI marry a blender?” or “Should humans be allowed on Mars if they still believe in astrology?”
For a first draft it’s not too shabby. On the next Blog instalment, I’ll have the final draft of the script.
