There are great AI tools out there these days that generate podcasts from any document you upload or link to. I am considering doing that for my course, since students aren’t reading textbooks anymore (let alone scientific articles), so I was thinking that if I gave them a podcast, that might get them to engage with the ideas and concepts. What are the pros and cons?
Anon · 10 Jul 2026
Mirjam Glessmer
I have two points right away I think are worth considering:
First, you write that “students aren’t reading anymore”. Is that something you are willing to accept? If not, maybe it is worth looking into what can make reading more attractive, for example providing the texts instead of having them buy expensive textbooks, or by working with social annotation (there are plugins that work with Learning Management Systems) so you can scaffold opportunities for students to practice looking for the relevant information; marking what they find most interesting, noteworthy, questionable; asking questions and providing answers to peers; linking to more information; and much more, so that they exercise the skills that might make it more likely that they start reading again.
If you do want to use podcasts, carefully quality check them before recommending them to your students. Rettberg (2026) finds (for one specific software, and at one point in time) that podcasts misunderstand niche-topic texts (which, probably, a lot of our teaching content is) and, by trying to match a typical podcast format, introduce biases and make everything sound mainstream. They also warn that by being whispered to directly into our ears (since we often listen to podcasts on headphones, in contrast to sitting in a lecture theatre or having a radio playing in the background in the kitchen), podcasts might appear more intimate and students might then be less critical of potential bias or misinformation. So it is important that both you and your students are aware that this might potentially be happening.
I do understand the appeal of the idea, though. We experimented with this three years ago and where very positively surprised back then. But I have since become a lot more critical of AI based on all the literature that shows how biased AI models are, and would now be very careful with using them to generate teaching materials.
Charlotte von Essen
I think one of the key considerations here is the idea of authenticity and human connection, because while AI may generate a very effective podcast, we know that learning is a social and relational experience. It's useful for them to be able to see and connect with real human beings, not just AI avatars. Of course, it's nice to use new technologies to encourage engagement, but it's always good to think about the payoffs inherent in the teaching materials we choose to integrate into courses.
Regardless of whether AI is used or not, you might also want to consider the relationship between audio-only materials and video materials. They serve different purposes. You might find audio podcasts are useful for students when they want to be doing other things and they want to just simply expand their general knowledge. Video podcasts may create a more immersive learning experience, but they require a student to be situated in front of a device.
And it is always possible to show students how they can create these resources themselves, possibly with their own notes, their own reflections, their own study materials, and do so in a way that empowers them to use AI to deepen their learning.