Did AI Just Take Over My Podcast? Let’s Talk About It… EP #371

G', day, guys. You're listening to the Den Lenny show, the podcast for established video business owners who want to scale smarter, not harder. We talk strategy systems and the scale method that turns busy founders into strategic CEOs.

G', day guys. It's Dan. I am back after a few days in Sydney where I caught up with Mick Jones, who I did the original Revenge of the Great Camera Shootout with. And then I was at a couple of events and so I had my guest presenters, Kai and Blake take over last week. Now, did you notice anything unusual about Kai and Blake? Now that's been downloaded 130 times in the first week and I've only had two people reach out and say, hey, was that AI? And yeah, it was. Of course, I thought I'd just post it because I wanted to just see what people said and felt about it. Now it was Notebook Lm actually one of my clients.

Eric, discovered it and he put a few prompts into it from my website and the result was that, you know, 10 minute episode. Now, there were parts that were obviously AI, but. But the reason I wanted to just share it as was was simply because it was pretty bloody good. And I think if you are driving or not really paying attention, it sounded plausible. So the reason I wanted to share that was I'm not about to stop doing this podcast for real. Okay. But I was like, we have to have our eyes wide open with what AI is doing and how fast and how rapidly it's taking hold. I think is it V version 3 came out and it's like a really powerful video tool. And I've been talking to my clients about this and I think we would be very naive to think that our industry is not going to be disrupted by AI. Do I think that film production, video production is going to be replaced by AI completely? No, I don't. And here's why. It's another tool. And yes, it's very powerful. But the way I would try and create an analogy about this is When I was 15, 16, 17, I was really into music. I still am, but I was in bands and stuff. And I remember my friend and I going to a music shop. And at the time synthesizers were like a really big deal and music workstations had just come out and there was this particular Korg music workstation. And you know, we go in and we sort of plot around and play a few bits and pieces, but not very good. But the demo on the Korg music workstation was like a fully produced song and it gave you the impression that you could do all of this on this workstation. And it's true you could, but it took an enormous amount of programming and expertise and knowledge to make it sound like a full band. And of course, there's nothing quite like if you're a musician, just getting in a room with musicians and playing music, you know, So I think it's a lot like that. I think it's a lot like that. You know, just because clients have access to AI and they can write prompts doesn't mean they understand how to tell a story. And I think in the same way as there was a threat when mobile phones became better and better and clients started shooting stuff in house. Now a few of my clients embraced that and started doing iPhone workshops to help them get on their way. And what happens is during the workshop, everyone's really geared up, but as soon as they try and do it on their own, well, it's a lot harder than it looks. Right? So I think the same is true of AI. I think there's going to be a very, very rapid uptake and there's going to be a lot of shifts and changes. But look, we're filmmakers, we're used to shift and changing. In my own career, I've seen video go from standard definition 4, 3 to 16 by 9 to high definition to ultra high definition to 6k, 8k, 12k, 17k.

It always evolves and changes. We just have to adapt and change with it. You know, we're the sailors in a boat on the ocean. We just need to adapt to the weather conditions. So I'm not really too worried about AI. I think you should be worried about it if you're scared of it or you're thinking, oh, you know this, so this will never take my job away. I think we have to get ahead of the curve. And I've been saying this, the folks in the vba, it's like, just embrace it. Actually start talking to your clients about AI video tools and how if they want any help, you know, they could, you can work with them. Because, you know, there's one thing, seeing a really cool video that's been prompted, but it's usually one shot, it's not a scene. And it may have been. Let's assume that they'll be able to shoot a scene for you quite soon. But you still have to direct the action. You still have to, you know, create the mood, set the tone. And, you know, with the example I gave last week where I had Kai and Blake.

Present the show, you know, on a one off it sounds. Sounds like legit, but there's no soul. And I was out for a few drinks with a couple of clients in Sydney. When I was down.

They were just like, you know, Dan, I just, you know, you have a particular way of sharing your view of the world. And, you know, we don't yet know how AI is going to interpret that human emotion, that delicacy.

But I think in the same way that we didn't really embrace 3D and the metaverse hasn't really taken off, and Apple's kind of, you know, version of that sort of immersive world hasn't really taken off. Now I think when we've got, you know, wearable tech, like glasses that feel completely normal, that might change. But I don't know if I want to have a camera filming all the time. Everything I'm looking at, you know, I just, I think maybe it's just I like to be disconnected from technology from time to time. I just got a whoop for tracking all my health data, and I love it because it doesn't have a screen and it wakes me up in the morning and I don't need to have my phone in the bedroom. So that's pretty cool. So I think, you know, none of us really know where AI is going. What I do know is that the, the biggest headache that commercial videographers, people running businesses, face is the amount of admin they've got to do. And, you know, that's where AI can help a massive amount. I was at an event where we were getting really deep into how AI agents can become your virtual receptionist. They can do your AI chat, live chat on the website, they can work for you 24, seven, take inquiries, you know, get people's details and book them into your calendar. Now, that might not seem like a big deal, but if you're on the road, how many times have you received an email.

And, you know, you've been on a job and you don't get back to late at night and you see that email, you think, I must respond to that. And then three days later you get back to them and it's too late. These are some of the small things that AI can help with. Getting Google reviews, you know, building trust. You know, when we look at the three Ds of any business, it's discovery, desire, and then deal. And it takes seven hours of consumption across 11 different touch points and at least four different environments or platforms before someone feels comfortable engaging you and even close to a serious conversation about doing some business. So if we can use AI to speed that process up to be your 24, 7 bookings person. And if you can create content with AI and you can have that loaded up and going out daily where you've got, you know, top of funnel, middle of funnel and bottom of funnel content, well then you're in to a place where you can actually be more effective. And you know, for the most part, if you're a business that's trying to get to 250 or from 250, 500 to 500 to 750 or 70 to a million, there's just different degrees of your time are required. And in the early stages of growth you're doing everything. And so what often that means is if you're busy working, you're not doing any marketing. And that is the fundamental challenge why that roller coaster of, you know, feast and famine exists. Because if you're not doing your marketing, your outreach and your top of funnel content consistently, then no new strangers are getting to know you. And the number one reason you're not growing faster is because not enough people know you exist and know that you're unique and specific style of production could help them. But they don't know you exist. And that's on you, my friend. That is up to us as marketers with the marketing hat on to focus on. You know, we wear so many hats in our businesses and so where I'm seeing AI being incredibly helpful is speeding that process up. Now in the vba, we've actually got an entire process we go through to build an AI project that sounds just like you and it takes a couple of hours to implement. But then all of your content can be written by AI and not sound like AI. So yeah, I think it's important to embrace AI, but also be careful not to get caught up in the shiny object syndrome of like new tools coming out every week and suddenly having 15 different AI tools. You know, you need to be focusing your time on making connections and producing work. And if you can do that in a way that doesn't involve.

You know, taking too much more of your time, then I think that's a good thing. So what do you think?

This is the Dan Lenny Show. If you've built a solid production business but feel stuck in the grind, it's time to think bigger. Over the past 14 years, I've helped 178 companies generate more than 52 million in documented growth using the scale method and our elite mastermind. If you want to create predictable pipelines, attract higher value clients, and finally buy back your time. Head to denleny.com. that's where the next level begins.