Being a content writer means scavenging through several news articles per day to get the right content for audiences. However, reading through all those articles becomes a tiresome job after a bit, and every day I think, “Man if I could just convert these articles into an audio file and listen to it instead of straining my eyes”. Well, surprisingly, now I can do exactly that, thanks to a nifty Google Chrome extension.
Dubbed as “Podcastle”, this AI-based Chrome extension lets the user convert any news article on the web into a listenable podcast-style audio file. The tool is made by an artificial intelligence company named Podcastle AI and uses a machine-learning algorithm to convert texts into podcasts.
“Our text-to-podcast converter based on machine learning is our unique offering. The podcasts we generate are very human-like and consider all the emotions and the writer’s tone of voice. It’s especially great for those working remotely,” wrote the founder of Podcastle AI, Arto Yeritsyan.
How to Use It?
Now, using the tool is as easy as a Sunday morning, You just have to add the extension from the Chrome Web Store to your extension-library, create an account, and start using it right away. And as it is a Chromium-based extension, running it on other Chromium-supported browsers like Microsoft Edge or Opera is not at all an issue.
So, once you enable the extension, pin it to the top bar of your browser for easy access. Now, open up any news article on the browser and click the Podcastle icon from your extensions list. At the bottom of the small drop-down UI of the tool, you will find the “convert to podcast” button.
Click this button to convert the news article on your browser into podcast-style audio, which you can start listening to instantly. Now, once it starts, the tool continues to play the audio, even if you close the source tab.
Podcastle also gives you an array of media control buttons to customize your listening experience. For example, you can change the speed of the audio playback or change the voice of the AI-narrator (male or female) from the UI of the tool. It does sound a bit robotic but that’s okay.
Moreover, after converting a news article, you can even download the audio file to your PC or laptop if you want to listen to it later. Or you can share the file on any social platform right from the tool itself.
So, if you are someone like me who prefers listening to news articles rather than reading them, then I am pretty sure you are going to love Podcastle, just like I have started to.
