Apr 30, 2020
Conversational AI Podcasts You Should Be Listening To Right Now
Comprehensive list of podcasts on conversational AI that’s calling your name!
Podcasts have been consumed by many of us, whether running, jogging, commuting, doing chores, or driving as we are learning new things or having a good laugh. When we’re curious to learn but are strapped for time, there is no better way to consume information quickly — sometimes at 1.5x speed. Typical routines have been changed due to the outbreak of COVID-19 , and voice-assistant usage has increased during this time, according to a recent study. Another study have mentioned that the number of people listening to podcasts have been increasing from 70% in 2019 to 75% in 2020. Considering the benefits of listening to podcasts, the increasing numbers and exposure aren’t surprising.
Podcasts have always been a great way to learn about new technology and stay up-to-date in this fast paced environment. Especially with voice technology on the rise and the current conditions of staying at home, what better time to delve ourselves in podcasts that are enriched with great content by voice leaders in the space!
List of Podcasts
We’ve put together all the podcasts related to conversational AI in this article with the Spotify link to the latest episode, if it’s available. These podcasts are a great way to learn about conversational AI regardless of your level of expertise. These podcasts are hosted in different places on the world so it’s very interesting getting perspectives and gauging the level of exposure of voice in those regions. We also feature a french podcast for those who are bilingual. This list is tailored based off of podcasts that are active as of the time this article is created. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
1. Assistant on Air — Actions on Google
Host: Google Developers
Started: 2019
Average length of podcasts: 5–20 minutes
Medium: Youtube Series (video), Spotify, Google Podcasts, iTunes and etc.
Synopsis: This podcast started off as a Youtube series, which was then requested to be converted into a podcast. You can catch the Youtube series here. The podcast is a series of conversations with a range of Google Assistant enthusiasts — from members of the Google Assistant team to Google Developer Advocates. The first few episodes is a great way to understand what Google Assistant are and how they are being developed, from the team themselves.
2. Design for Voice
Host: Jeremy Wilken
Started: 2018
Average length of podcasts: 30 minutes
Medium: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Owltail, Podbean and more.
Synopsis: Jeremy has conducted several interviews with many #voicefirst professionals. Each podcast is a deep dive into each interviewee’s experience in voice but also in the topic that they’re either a subject matter expert in or passionate about. (Personally have taken some notes during some of the episodes — will come in handy soon.) He always ends off with a segment called “End Point Detection” which might have put a smirk for those voice enthusiasts reading this article right now.
3. The Voice Tech Podcast
Host: Carl Robinson
Started: 2018
Average length of podcasts: 16 minutes except the recent episodes* (Need to be a Pro member to gain access to full episodes.)
Medium: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung Bixby and more
Synopsis: This podcast focuses on different topics with the guest including chatbots, machine learning, data science and AI. Carl Robinson’s aim is to “provide an overview of the voice technology ecosystem and to inspire and give listeners ideas to build in this space”. The last 3 episodes of his podcasts are the full episodes while the older ones are shorten to 16 minute clips. These bite-sized clips are still great to listen to.
4. Alexa in Canada
Host: Teri Fisher
Started: 2017
Average length of podcasts: 30 minutes
Medium: Spotify, Google Podcasts, AnyPod, Apple Podcast, Stitcher
Synopsis: This is a great podcast for those new to the space as Teri Fisher takes you on his journey of discovering Amazon Alexa in Canada. In fact, he launched his first episode the day it was released in Canada. Teri’s goal for this podcast is to provide product reviews that are made by Amazon or not, specific top Alexa skills, strategies, news, interviews, tip & tricks to help get the most out of your personal digital AI assistant. You’ll also see Teri as a guest in several podcasts within the list as well.
5. Voice First Health
Host: Teri Fisher
Started: 2018
Average length of podcasts: Within 10 mins
Medium: Google Podcasts, Player.fm, Stitcher, and Spotify
Synopsis: As Dr. Teri Fisher is a Sport & Exercise Physician by profession, it is not surprising that he hosts a podcast that covers the importance of voice technology in healthcare. His passion for e-health innovation and the intersection of voice technology and healthcare allows for a collection of great episodes for those that share similar interests.
6. Voice in Education
Host: Julie Daniel Davis
Started: 2019
Average length of podcasts: Under 10 minutes
Medium: Google Podcast, Stitcher, Apple Podcasts and more.
Synopsis: Julie Daniel Davis is a director of Instructional Technology and Innovation at Chattanooga Christian School. The episodes are flash briefings that are converted to podcast episodes in order to listen to them outside of Alexa-enabled device. This podcast unveils nuances that bring forth light on benefits and issues of incorporating voice technology into the classrooms while bringing confidence in listeners that voice can play a role in amplifying the learning experience if done right.
7. The Voicebot Podcast
Host: Bret Kinsella
Started: 2017
Average length of podcasts: 1 hour
Medium: Spotify, Stitcher, Acast, Podbay, Libsyn, Tunein, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts, Download it as an Amazon Skill, iHeartRadio Podcasts
Synopsis: This podcast is hosted by Bret Kinsella, who is one of many reputable award-winning podcasters within the voice space. His weekly podcast consists of interviews with industry giants covering everything around voice and AI industries. The podcaster veteran is another host who you’ll hear being interviewed in other podcasts as well.
8. VUX World
Host: Kane Simms
Started: 2018
Average length of podcasts: Around 1 hour
Medium: Youtube, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Download it as an Amazon Skill, and many more platforms
Synposis: Another great podcast to learn on implementing voice first strategy and creating world-class voice experiences. One of the features that really stand out when you’re listening to episodes of this podcast is the host himself. He is definitely classified as an entertaining host in our books. Every week, they release episodes that are deep dives on strategy, design and development with industry thought leaders and practitioners within voice. VUX World is also a design studio. Side note — we’re a fan of the podcast cover art!
9. Alexa Dev Chat
Host: Dave Isbitski
Started: 2016
Average length of podcasts: 30 minutes — 1 hour
Medium: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Player.fm and more
Synopsis: If you are a fan of all things Amazon Alexa, this is for you. You can tune in to hear Alexa’s Chief Evangelist Dave Isbitski discuss various aspects of Alexa, natural language understanding, voice recognition, and stories of developers who are building innovative solutions with voice. The podcast feature Alexa news, developer tips, and interviews with Alexa developers and Alexa team members.
10. This Week In Voice (Not on Spotify)
Host: Bradley Metrock
Started: 2017
Average length of podcasts: 30 minutes — 1 hour
Medium: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Player.fm and more
Synopsis: This Week In Voice is a weekly news podcast, which brings the most interesting, relevant stories in the rapidly-growing world of voice technology. This podcast explores each week’s top stories, and the expert insight on these stories provided by each week’s all-star panel.This host can be seen speaking and presenting at several voice event as well as producing the project voice conference.
11. The VoiceFirst Roundtable (Not on Spotify)
Host: Bradley Metrock
Started: 2017
Average length of podcasts: 20–40 minutes
Medium: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and more
Synopsis: The same host of ‘This Week in Voice’ is also the host of this podcast. The VoiceFirst Roundtable examines the emerging technology of voice-first computing, and its growing intersection with all facets of daily life. This podcast is a another collection of unique interviewees with voice enthusiasts and Bradley Metrock isn’t a stranger to other podcasts as well — some of which are mentioned in this list.
12. Beetle Moment Marketing Podcast
Host: Emily Binder
Started: 2018
Average length of podcasts: 15–40 minutes
Medium: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Player.fm and more
Synopsis: This podcast is an interesting podcast from the rest. This podcast is hosted by a voice enthusiast who specializes in marketing. Emily blends her vast experience in marketing with her passion in voice to create episodes to educate about how voice can play a big role in marketing for businesses through different interviews, tip & tricks and more.
13. Simon et Guy (Not on Spotify)
Host: Dr. Simon Laundry and Guy Tonye
Started: 2017
Average length of podcasts: 30 minutes — 1 hour
Medium: https://simonetguy.com/
Synopsis: For francophones who have been yearning to learn about voice, Simon et Guy is the podcast for you. This podcast is a French podcast that guides you through the world of technology. You would be able to create your first product incorporating artificial intelligence, using voice interfaces, with the help of Simon and Guy. Those who are familiar with Voice Tech Global would also be familiar with the hosts of the podcast. Dr. Simon Laundry is currently leading the development of a network for French-language mental health and addictions services providers in the province of Ontario. He is not a stranger to voice-first experiences as seen through his work here and here. Many of us like to know him as a creator of the “Poop Detective” skill on Amazon. Guy Tonye is a software developer at Connected who is also one of the cofounders of VoiceTechGlobal as well.
14. Inside VOICE
Host: Keri Roberts, Pete Erickson & James Poulter
Started: 2018
Average length of podcasts: 10 minutes — 1 hour
Medium: Spotify, Anchor, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts and more
Synopsis: This podcast is part of the world’s largest voice tech event — VOICE Summit. It provides another great collection of interesting conversations with various voice tech space players from top leaders to up and coming. One of the great aspects to this podcast is that it provides listeners a behind-the-scenes access pass on many of their initiatives such as previous VOICE summits, VOICE Live from CES, VOICE Global & VOICE 2020. Learn more about Voice Summit here. Can you spot one of the members of Voice Tech Global on the website?
15. Bixby Developers Chat
Host: Roger Kibbe
Started: 2020
Average length of podcasts: 40–60 mins
Medium: Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts etc. (And of course on Bixby!)
Synopsis: This article has noted podcasts from virtual assistant AI technology developers such as Google and Amazon but we sure can’t forget about another player in the game. That’s right, Samsung Bixby. For those dabbling in it, curious about it or build your expertise in Samsung’s Bixby, this is your go-to podcast. There are interesting guests including Jennie Stenhous speaking about Women in Voice and voice development, the Jovo guys talking about their voice framework and Julie Daniel Davis from the Voice in Education podcast mentioned above. The focus of this podcast is voice as well as the future of voice with a touch of Bixby thrown in. You can check out more about the podcast here.
15. Voicing Startups
Host: Collin Borns
Started: 2019
Average length of podcasts: Less than 30 minutes
Medium: Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts etc.
Synopsis: The Voicing Startups Podcast provides a platform and showcases startups in audio, voice and conversational tech. The host Collin Borns brings his passion in entrepreneurship and investing into the space of voice and is now sharing it with the world through his podcast — Voicing startups. This podcasts brings awareness on different companies and creators that are shaking up, redefining and reinventing industries through audio, voice or other conversational technology. Through each episode, he brings into light those startups that have been paving their way through the voice space.
16. The Conversational Design Podcast by Botsociety
Host: Monika Rodiqi
Started: 2019
Average length of podcasts: 30 minutes to 1 hour
Medium: Google PlayMusic, Spotify, Apple Podcasts
Synopsis: If you’re a design enthusiast looking into dabble into conversational AI, look no further, this podcast may be for you! This podcast is enriched with episodes about conversation design, voice UX and chatbot design. They release an episode per month where you can listen to experts in the field about their creative process, their background, their insights, and their challenges. An interesting note you may find is that the founders of the podcast is a company called Botsociety. Botsociety is a tool to preview and prototype chatbots and voice also known as the InVision of conversational interface. The podcast is hosted by Monika Rodiqi, who is a product manager from Botsociety. Very apt! Check them out here.
17. Conversations That Matter
Host: Randy Ksar
Started: 2020
Average length of podcasts: around 30 minutes
Medium: Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, YouTube
Synopsis: This podcast is a different podcast within the list here but it’s also a much needed one. Whenever we think about implementing AI, contact centres is one of the first few industries we think of as a low hanging fruit. If you’ve been curious about the intersection of contacts centres and the integration of AI, this podcast doesn’t only bring it to light but it really hits the spot with the deep dives in each episode. If you’re a contact center leader, this podcast is for you! The host picked out a couple of his favourites so be sure to check them out: Episode 6 with Mike Small from Sitel on the future of the BPO industry and Episode 7 with Lisa McLeod on leading with noble purpose. This podcast is produced by Uniphore who provides a Conversational Service Automation (CSA) platform that uses conversational AI, workplace automation and RPA. Check out an article published on Entrepreneur about CSA here.
18. Voice This!
Host: Millani Jayasingkam (yes, it’s me!)
Started: 2021
Average length of podcasts: 40 minutes — 1 hour.
Medium: Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts,
Synopsis: This podcast aims to educate novice practitioners and curious minds on the world of conversational AI. The first season goes through the Conversational Product Development and Design process end-to-end as seen by industry leaders. We’ll be taking you through research, ideating, testing all the way to launching the product. So whether you are a designer, developer, a product manager, copywriter or just someone who is curious about this up and coming technology of conversational AI, this podcast is for you!
Summary
I hope you found this list of podcasts an interesting start to your journey in hearing more about voice technology from the different perspectives each podcasts brings to you. If you have heard of other podcasts or are currently listening that fits right into this list, send us a shout and we’d be more than happy to add it to the list with your remarks! We are always open to learning from the community!
If you want to learn more about conversational AI and want to meet passionate voice practitioners, come join the Voice Tech Global community to be invited to awesome virtual events, webinars and learn more about our Civic Lab.
