There’s a sea of “AI-powered tools” out there, and part of my daily adventures include testing and reviewing them in the context of content creation, solopreneurship and running a content-driven business. After 15 years of exploring creator life and 10 years actually working as a creator — along with spending the last two years embracing AI in all areas — I finally had some time to reflect on the tools I find the most valuable.
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AI has the potential to radically impact everyday workflows and the ways we do business as working professionals or creators. Hundreds of tools and software applications claim to have AI-powered features, but only a small subset are truly designed with AI at their core.
Here are some specific tools my team and I have worked with and how they could help you, too.
No. 1: Otter
Favorite use case: Transcripts and show notes for podcasts and livestreams.
Otter uses AI to transform conversations into written text. It lets media teams focus on storytelling rather than repetitive tasks such as transcription, note-taking and action items. Beyond audio-to-text, Otter also generates meeting summaries, highlights key conversation points and can even generate speaker bios.
Otter has saved us countless hours in producing the Feisworld Podcast. For more than 350 episodes, we manually captured, edited and published show notes and transcripts. While it was rewarding, it was also incredibly time-consuming.
Otter has been key to quickly grasping the essence of our conversations without spending days reviewing lengthy notes.
(Related: Read CNET’s review of Otter.)
No. 2: Fathom
Favorite use case: Meeting summaries, insights and video snippets.
Like Otter, Fathom is an AI-powered meeting assistant created to streamline note-taking and follow-ups for online meetings. I love that it integrates with all the major videoconferencing platforms, including Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.
Fathom automatically records, transcribes and summarizes your meetings, freeing you up to focus on the conversation itself instead of on taking notes. Within 30 seconds of the meeting ending (almost instantly!), Fathom provides a concise summary with key points, action items and highlighted discussion topics. It feels like having a personal assistant right there with you.
What makes Fathom different from Otter is that it also lets you share video clips from the meeting — and can even highlight emotions. Fathom has radically changed how we organize and participate in online meetings. We now have an excellent library of all our synced meetings for our core team at Feisworld that inspire content creation, especially for our YouTube channel.
No. 3: Descript
Favorite use case: Achieving studio sound and removing hundreds of “ums and uhs” with one click.
Descript was the first tool I remember that truly wowed me back when I was initially skeptical about AI. Descript’s cloud-based video editor was designed to streamline the postproduction process, particularly for creators working solo or in small teams, and it does an excellent job.
Descript uses a text-based approach. It transcribes the audio from your video clip and then edits the video by manipulating the text. This is a huge time-saver, especially for tasks such as cutting out unwanted sections or rearranging the order of your content.
In addition to video editing, Descript deeply integrates AI into audio production, offering tools such as Overdub to clone a real voice and make spoken corrections without the need to rerecord. This speeds up the production process and enhances the audio quality, enabling podcasters, YouTubers and livestreamers to achieve studio-grade results no matter where they are.
Descript’s latest release includes an AI feature called “Underlord,” intended to be the opposite of an overlord. Underlord helps you automate editing drudgery so you can focus on the creative work that truly matters. AI-generated clips are now part of Descript as well.
No. 4: Swell AI
Favorite use case: Turning podcast audio into articles, show notes, social posts, newsletters and more.
Swell AI turns podcasts or videos into more than transcripts, giving you clips, show notes, articles, summaries, titles, newsletters, social posts and even a chatbot from your podcast content. Swell AI can be integrated into every part of your podcast production process.
Instead of assembling multiple tools and paying for those subscriptions every month, Swell AI could serve as your all-in-one podcast marketing and production platform. It’s also a helpful tool for webinar hosts and YouTubers. As part of the same subscription, the app can turn YouTube videos into articles, generate video descriptions and create social posts to go along with your main video content.
No. 5: Munch
Favorite use case: Extracting the most engaging clips from long-form content such as podcasts, livestreams and webinars.
After running our podcast for 10 years and producing more than 350 episodes, we started to wonder how to better leverage our content archive and extend the life of our creations. That was when we discovered the concept of content repurposing using AI.
Munch is one of the most popular AI content repurposing platforms on the market today, alongside competitors like Opus, Submagic and now Descript with its new AI clip feature. We like Munch the best because it’s designed for more serious creators and small-business owners.
Earlier in 2024, Munch announced the introduction of some fantastic new features aimed at making video creation and management a breeze. Features like Safe Zones ensure your video clips stand out everywhere, and the app can write social posts automatically based on your video content, all while supporting 10 languages including Spanish, German, Hindi and Japanese.
If you find it overwhelming to have to decide what to post among dozens of clips, Munch’s advanced AI capabilities will make the decisions easier. Munch uses GPT, OCR and NLP to analyze your content against marketing trends and keywords specific to each platform so you can post with confidence and test your content more intelligently with predictive analytics.
This is why we chose Munch and have recommended it to hundreds of creators and entrepreneurs like us. I hope you’ll give it a try!
No. 6: Synthesia
Favorite use case: Online courses and faceless YouTube channels.
Synthesia is unique because it changes how you can create videos without ever actually showing up on camera. The platform uses AI to create studio-quality videos with realistic avatars to deliver messages in various tones and emotions. It’s perfect for creating explainer videos, presentations, ads, courses or any other marketing materials that don’t require filming a real person on camera.
It’s also really easy to use. Simply provide text for the avatar and Synthesia will animate the avatar’s lips and facial expressions to match the script. Synthesia offers an extensive and diverse library of avatars to choose from, and you can even create a custom avatar that looks like yourself if you want.
This technology is powerful because it has the potential to change time-to-market and budgets when it comes to creating video content, which can be expensive and complex to produce.
No. 7: Pika Labs
Favorite use case: Growing a YouTube channel with Shorts.
What drew our attention to the Pika Labs project was its mission to democratize video creation. The free AI tool allows users to generate short videos based on text descriptions or image prompts, which is great for smaller creators who are getting started and don’t want to lose the competitive edge. We’ve all been there! Typically, AI-powered video generation tools can be quite expensive, leaving smaller creators behind.
The prompts are very user-friendly, and the output generated — while not great — can be helpful for brands building an audience on social media with short, engaging and concise content. We recommend it for those interested in growing YouTube channels with Shorts or new X accounts. We really enjoy their /anime prompt!
No. 8: ChatGPT and Google Gemini
Favorite use case: Brainstorming and research inspiration.
ChatGPT and Google Gemini are both AI chatbots built on large language models, allowing for conversation and creative text generation. Since debuting to the public in late 2022, ChatGPT has taken over the world with its ability to chat naturally and craft different kinds of content. Google’s Gemini followed in March 2023.
These AI models have fundamentally changed the way we do things at Feisworld: It’s another brain we add to the team. We use them to generate ideas, summarize complex topics and facts and even write different creative text formats when we get stuck. They’re perfect for brainstorming and researching, and they keep getting better every day.
Contrary to what many argue online, these tools have unleashed our creativity and let us explore the ideas we want way faster, and way better than before.
(Related: Read CNET’s reviews of ChatGPT and Google Gemini.)
No. 9: D-ID
Favorite use case: creating animated characters and interactive educational material.
D-ID’s Creative Reality Studio can turn existing photos, scripts or even audio recordings into really engaging videos. Compared with other platforms, one area it focuses on is easy scaling and localization, making it more suitable for global businesses.
Throughout 2023, we leveraged D-ID’s ability to generate lifelike digital avatars to produce speaking portraits for the Xiang Li Art project. Xiang Li devoted her life to studying women in Chinese history and spent over 10 years painting empresses from many dynasties with sophisticated cultural backgrounds, stories and impacts that span centuries. D-ID brings these stories to life through speaking portraits, attracting people from different generations and abilities.
No. 10: Adobe Express
Favorite use case: creating YouTube and blog post thumbnails and easily layering effects with AI.
Adobe’s software suite has always been fundamental for media teams. However, it used to be expensive and geared toward professionals. Adobe Express was introduced to change that and democratize photo and video editing at the professional level.
This year, Adobe Express has become our Swiss Army knife and go-to tool when it comes to designing thumbnails for YouTube, blog posts and social media. With the latest mobile app, you get access to AI-powered features such as turning text prompts into images, adding or removing objects in the photo editor and turning voices into characters. You also get dozens of ready-to-use templates, brand kits and a giant library of assets in Adobe’s stock footage.
One of our favorite features of Adobe Express is its video editing capabilities. We can make quick edits to our social media videos on the go. Because it’s so easy to use, our clients who don’t consider themselves tech-savvy can teach themselves how to use Adobe Express.
Last but not least, community matters. Adobe Express has a thriving community of creators and business owners inside its Facebook group, with a lot of quality questions and content. That’s a big bonus for my team and me, as we continue to learn all things related to Adobe Express from professionals around the world.
Try a new AI-powered tool today
Were one or more of these tools new to you? Give them a try, then say hello over at the Feisworld YouTube channel and let us know how it’s going.
Editors’ note: CNET used an AI engine to help create several dozen stories, which are labeled accordingly. The note you’re reading is attached to articles that deal substantively with the topic of AI but are created entirely by our expert editors and writers. For more, see our AI policy.
