When Jeanine Wright—former Wondery exec—tells The Hollywood Reporter that “people who are still referring to all AI-generated content as AI slop are probably lazy luddites,” I had to pause—and not just to wonder what century I’m living in. The irony? She’s saying it’s not “AI slop,” only to reveal that the plan is to churn out tons of AI-generated podcasts purely for profit. When AI isn’t directed well, it creates slop. That’s not edgy, that’s sloppy.

Let’s be blunt. The podcasting ecosystem—creators, listeners, advertisers—is built on trust, care, and the human voice. Flooding it with undifferentiated AI fluff undermines the very magic of the medium.

Podcasting isn’t a niche anymore—it’s enormous and still developing. Yes, Apple Podcasts lists more than 4.5 million shows, but only about 436,000 have released a new episode in the last 90 days (The Podcast Host). Other trackers show similar numbers, with around *320,000–470,000 podcasts currently active (Talks.co). That’s a fraction of the headlines you see about “millions of podcasts,” and it matters because these are the creators showing up every week or every other week to build audiences, trust, and real communities. And listeners are there for it—59.2% of U.S. digital audio listeners, about 135 million people, tune into podcasts monthly (Spiralytics).

This isn’t saturation. Its growth. But if platforms allow an unchecked flood of AI-generated shows, it will become harder to discover the hundreds of thousands of legitimate podcasters. The creators putting in the work could get buried under the noise of content factories.

Why does that matter? Because podcasting’s power is built on human connection. Listeners form parasocial relationships with hosts—the voice they trust on their commute, during their workout, or while cooking dinner. That trust is why advertisers invest billions into the medium. Globally, podcast ad dollars are projected to grow from $19.4 billion in 2024 to $23.9 billion in 2025 (Grandview Research). In the U.S., podcast advertising already hit $2.43 billion in 2024 and is still climbing (IAB).

And here’s the kicker: listeners actually like podcast ads. 80% of heavy listeners trust the ads they hear, more than any other media channel (Sounds Profitable). 62% take action after hearing a podcast ad, and 34% are more likely to purchase after a host-read spot (Nielsen / Soundrise). You remove the human host, you remove the trust. Remove the trust, you remove the advertising dollars. And when the money leaves, the entire industry risks collapse.

So, what do we do about it? Here’s where I think we start:

• Clear labeling & filters: Every AI-generated podcast should be visibly marked, with easy filters for listeners.
  
• Separate rankings: AI shows should not compete in human-driven charts.
  
• Improved searchability: Platforms should let audiences filter not only by AI vs. human, but also by “active” status, genre, and release cadence—so listeners find the creators still showing up every week.
  
• Advertiser transparency: Brands should demand clarity about whether they’re sponsoring human hosts or AI voices.
  
• Creator protection: Platforms must advance tools and features that support real creators and communities, not drown them out.
  

Now, before someone calls me a luddite, let me say this clearly: I am not anti-AI. In fact, I used AI to help me write this article. But—and this is the important part—I didn’t outsource my thinking to a bot. I wrote, refined, argued with myself, and then used AI as a tool to sharpen my words. That’s conscious AI. It’s how it should be used: to support creators, not replace them.

At its best, podcasting is an art form. It’s people sharing stories, building communities, and creating culture. AI can absolutely help us do that better—cleaner audio, faster editing, smarter tools. But when it’s used to flood the market with soulless content, we all lose.

Podcasting deserves better. Listeners deserve better. Advertisers deserve better. And yes, even AI deserves better than being used as a blunt tool to erase the humanity that makes this medium work.

We’ve built something rare in podcasting—a space where voices matter, trust matters, and communities thrive. Let’s not let a handful of companies chasing short-term margins drown it all in slop.

– Ellie Puckett, with SUPPORT from Ai 🙂