Spotify has announced that it will use Google Cloud’s AI tools to improve both content discovery and personal recommendations for its audio offerings. According to a press release, Spotify employs Google Cloud’s LLMs (extended language models) to analyze the nearly 5 million podcasts and 350,000 audiobooks in its content library to “augment” metadata. We wonder what this “augment” means.
The metadata of a podcast or audiobook comprises information such as the title, the name of the host or author, show notes and other features. All of this appears in the search results of podcast apps like spotify. But it’s been a long time since we know podcasts and audiobooks have discovery problems.
Spotify’s primary cloud supplier is Google Cloud, and as Protocol reported in 2021, the two firms have been collaborating on new services. Identifying “harmful” information is another goal of Spotify’s Google Cloud AI program, though the firm did not elaborate. The platform’s regulations for podcasters and musicians prohibit numerous sorts of “sensitive” and “dangerous” content, and it now enforces these rules using a combination of automatic technology and human reviewers.
Spotify recommends new podcasts and specific episodes to listeners on their home screens. A “More like this section” also features related podcasts on each podcast’s show page. As several users have pointed out, these features can be hit-or-miss. For instance, Spotify’s choices for Overheard at National Geographic include a nursing podcast, a bipolar condition podcast, and a true crime podcast.
So, Google Cloud AI capabilities will also boost Spotify’s personalized podcast and audiobook suggestions. LLMs will probably be used to “better understand patterns behind users’ favorite spoken content,” resulting in more customized recommendations.
Although it’s not their first venture with AI, Spotify released an AI tool for songs called AI DJ earlier this year, which uses OpenAI’s generative AI techniques to produce unique playlists. The flick has, however, received mixed reviews so far. Spotify’s usage of AI for spoken audio isn’t a standalone tool like AI DJ, but it demonstrates its commitment to improving the user experience for its non-music offerings.
