A little while back, as my wife was preparing for her very first anime artist alley, I wanted to help. She focused on creating an amazing lineup of chibi-style art, and I took on the business side of it. The big question for me was, what do you do when you need reliable market data for a niche industry?

When you want to learn something, you might watch a YouTube video or read a blog post. For artist alleys, most of the content was on YouTube, but it was inefficient. For every 20-minute vlog, I’d find maybe one or two minutes of actual business advice. The rest was just general convention life, and I needed hard facts.

I tried using an LLM to comb through articles for a clear answer, which is great for curating knowledge. But that created a new problem: a dense wall of text that was impossible to digest after a long day. Curation is only half the battle; the other half is consumption.

That’s when a feature I’d been curious about provided the edge: AI-generated audio.

My Own Private Podcast

The concept is simple: you provide a source of data to a tool like Google’s NotebookLM, and it generates a conversation between two AI hosts on the topic. The first time I tried it, I was doing the dishes and started listening. That’s when it hit me.

I was listening to a polished podcast about market trends for independent artists—a topic so specific it would never have a real show. This technology could create an engaging learning experience for an audience of one. Suddenly, any niche topic was accessible, and the friction of learning was gone.

My Eager (and Awkward) AI Co-Hosts

Now, while I recommend this, I have to give a warning. Like any new technology, it has its quirks. You’ll be listening to a serious topic, and one of the AI hosts will randomly speak Spanish for a few words. It can also misinterpret the tone of your source material, taking a hopeful article and presenting it with a bizarrely “delusional” spin.

Despite the quirks, the power of choice is a game-changer. I look at the AI like an eager scriptwriter, young in its career. It might make mistakes, but it’s trying its best. You still have to be the final judge of the information.

Embrace the Imperfect Future

The world is changing, and the ability to learn quickly and deeply is essential. That research, consumed in a way that fit my life, helped us diversify my wife’s products, leading to better returns at future events. The imperfect, quirky AI gave us a real-world advantage.

The ability to shape information to fit your learning style is a superpower. Don’t wait until it’s perfect. The next time you want to learn something, try turning your research into a private podcast. You might be surprised by what you discover.