Captivate Spark AI FAQs
Welcome to the most useful AI podcasting assistant yet: Captivate Spark AI, the episode creation and growth module available to all Captivate podcasters.
Questions about Spark AI and how to use it? Captivate has you covered!
What is Spark AI?
Captivate Spark AI is a fully integrated AI assistant, offering as much assistance with your podcast as you’d like. We’re giving you the tools to drastically reduce the time spent in your podcasting workflow and to make your audience growth, podcast discoverability and creator marketing easier than ever before.
Sounds cool - so what does it do?
Captivate Spark AI is not only the most advanced podcasting AI tool out there, it’s the most Captivate AI tool out there. That means inventive, intuitive features that you didn’t know you needed, making your life easier in ways you never expected.
What are these features?
Automatic transcription: simply upload your audio file and we’ll do the rest, creating an accurate and fully editable transcription of your audio, including speaker separation and text separation (to ensure each transcript is assigned to the correct speaker)
Title suggestions: attention-grabbing episode titles that are optimized for SEO and clicks. You can even add more context about your episode and Spark AI will create titles based on that
Summary/intro: a nice, punchy intro to the episode that you can use for your show notes, or sharing on social media, etc
Episode show notes: Spark AI provides three options for you to choose from to use for your episode show notes
Key takeaways: a nice list of bullet points that are perfect for social media updates, or even just adding to your show notes
Chapter breaks, titles, and timestamps: perfect for episodes with multiple discussion points or topics, these chapters are fully clickable and can help drive more listens
Ad Marker Suggestions: recommendations on where to place your mid roll ads, based on pauses in the conversation and contextual gaps. Spark AI even tells you why it chose these ad markers!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) assets: make sure your episode is set up for search, with our tailored SEO title and meat description recommendations. We even provide keywords for YouTube, if you have a video version of your episode
What are the Ad Marker Suggestions?
If you have ads for your podcast episodes and use AMIE, Captivate’s dynamic ad and content feature, Spark AI will analyze the episode audio and make recommendations on where a mid roll ad can be placed. If you’ve ever listened to a podcast episode when someone has been speaking, and an ad interrupts them mid-sentence, you’ll know how disruptive that can be. Spark AI’s Ad Marker Suggestions looks to avoid that, and find the best spot(s) - conversation pause, topic change, etc - for you to insert your ads and not interrupt the listening experience.
This sounds awesome - can Spark AI help me with episode ideas?
You bet! Thanks to how we integrate all of Captivate’s features, not only can Spark AI come up with episode ideas for you, but make sure you have topics to talk about, and guests to talk about them with!
Add Episode Idea: Spark AI will look at your analytics for the last 30 days, as well as the topics you usually talk about, and the trends across the whole web on those topics, and suggest three episode ideas for you
Title and Main Talking Points: based on the previous analysis, Spark AI will suggest a title for the episode, and key talking points for you and/or your guest to discuss on the episode
Guest Suggestions: based on the topics, Spark AI will then suggest what guests you could have on for that episode. Not only that, but you’ll also see a short bio for the guest, links to their online profiles, and even questions to ask them on the episode!
This can all then be used as part of our Episode Planning tool, helping you plan ahead for episodes and what you’ll need for each one.
Doesn’t AI make your content very formulaic, though?
It can, if you just hit create and forget about it - but that’s not the Captivate way. Instead, Spark AI is built to be as close to you and your tone of voice as possible, thanks to our Persona customizer and training feature.
What’s the Spark AI Persona customizer and training feature?
Simply put, this lets you filter what kind of results and suggestions Spark AI will make, based on your personality and writing style. By using any of our pre-set personas, and then customizing them to suit your style, Spark AI will be your best friend when it comes to creating content that is straight from your style and vibe!
Pre-built personas: choose from Simple and Fun, In-depth and Formal, or Custom
Customize your persona: become even more detailed on what kind of suggestions are made by Spark AI. Choose the tone for your text, whether you prefer first-person, second-person, or third-person, if the tone is humorous, and how simple or complex the language is
Tone of voice training: as smart as Spark AI is at creating your persona, there’s nothing like getting it straight from the horse’s mouth. With tone of voice training, you can share up to 5 links of your own publications, and we’ll analyze them for writing style and personality
Can I tweak Spark AI suggestions and results?
Of course! If the initial results aren’t quite what you’re looking for, you can choose to either regenerate specific results (titles, summary, show notes, etc) or start all over again and regenerate everything.
So how does Spark AI work?
Everything is based off your audio file upload and the subsequent transcript we create for that. By analyzing the transcript text, we can then suggest titles, summaries, etc, for that specific episode.
What AI software do you use - OpenAI, ChatGPT, Jasper, etc?
Spark AI uses a mix of several tools, since we found that one tool on its own might be good at one thing, but less so at another. By utilizing a multi-tool approach, we can make the results the best they can be for our podcasters.
I read about concerns around AI, and how it trains itself on audio, etc, which can then be used to replace creators. Does Spark AI do this and, if so, can I opt out?
Spark AI is a fully opt-in platform - if you don’t wish to use Spark AI, it won’t be in use on your account. Spark only transcribes the audio file that’s been uploaded, after which we use the transcript to suggest titles, show notes, summaries, etc. We don’t analyze any voices, or train data based on a podcaster’s voice.
Is Spark AI multilingual?
Spark AI is English language only, currently. The AI may try and transcribe other languages, but results aren't guaranteed for those languages.
Okay, I’m sold - how much does this cost?
We wanted to make things super simple when it comes to using Spark AI, so because the only “hard cost” to us is the transcription service, that’s the only cost we’ll pass on.
Spark AI cost is based on the transcript - all other features are free
You can choose between a recurring monthly payment, or buying one-off top-ups as needed
Spark AI is $1 per hour of transcript. So, as an example, if you have a weekly show at 30 minutes per episode, that’ll be $0.50 per episode or $2 per month. Any unused time remains in use until the next episode, and so on - you won’t lose any unused time
If you're a heavy user of transcripts, the Monthly Spark AI Bundles would be the better option. You can choose between 5, 10, and 20 hours per months, and add that Spark Bundle to your account.
$5 per month gives you five hours of transcription that rolls over each month if unused. For any additional ad hoc top ups, you can purchase one-off blocks of 5, 10 or 20 hours that also remain on your account until used.
If you just use transcripts now and again, then the One-off Top-ups may be better suited to you. Simply choose between 5, 10, or 20 hours, and then click Buy Now to add to your account.
_Note: Only account owners with a paid Captivate plan can purchase Spark AI. If you're on annual billing, Spark AI will be charged for the year, or pro-rated by the remaining time until your next renewal. So, $60 per year if it's a new annual billing account, or $30 if you have 6 months left until your next renewal and then $60 per year after that._
That’s pretty good! How do I pay?
You can buy Spark AI straight from your Captivate dashboard. Or, if you use our Memberships and Tips feature and have earnings from that, you can convert earnings into Blocks and pay that way.
Recommend reading: Spark AI Settings Overview
Questions about Spark AI and how to use it? Captivate has you covered!
What is Spark AI?
Captivate Spark AI is a fully integrated AI assistant, offering as much assistance with your podcast as you’d like. We’re giving you the tools to drastically reduce the time spent in your podcasting workflow and to make your audience growth, podcast discoverability and creator marketing easier than ever before.
Sounds cool - so what does it do?
Captivate Spark AI is not only the most advanced podcasting AI tool out there, it’s the most Captivate AI tool out there. That means inventive, intuitive features that you didn’t know you needed, making your life easier in ways you never expected.
What are these features?
Automatic transcription: simply upload your audio file and we’ll do the rest, creating an accurate and fully editable transcription of your audio, including speaker separation and text separation (to ensure each transcript is assigned to the correct speaker)
Title suggestions: attention-grabbing episode titles that are optimized for SEO and clicks. You can even add more context about your episode and Spark AI will create titles based on that
Summary/intro: a nice, punchy intro to the episode that you can use for your show notes, or sharing on social media, etc
Episode show notes: Spark AI provides three options for you to choose from to use for your episode show notes
Key takeaways: a nice list of bullet points that are perfect for social media updates, or even just adding to your show notes
Chapter breaks, titles, and timestamps: perfect for episodes with multiple discussion points or topics, these chapters are fully clickable and can help drive more listens
Ad Marker Suggestions: recommendations on where to place your mid roll ads, based on pauses in the conversation and contextual gaps. Spark AI even tells you why it chose these ad markers!
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) assets: make sure your episode is set up for search, with our tailored SEO title and meat description recommendations. We even provide keywords for YouTube, if you have a video version of your episode
What are the Ad Marker Suggestions?
If you have ads for your podcast episodes and use AMIE, Captivate’s dynamic ad and content feature, Spark AI will analyze the episode audio and make recommendations on where a mid roll ad can be placed. If you’ve ever listened to a podcast episode when someone has been speaking, and an ad interrupts them mid-sentence, you’ll know how disruptive that can be. Spark AI’s Ad Marker Suggestions looks to avoid that, and find the best spot(s) - conversation pause, topic change, etc - for you to insert your ads and not interrupt the listening experience.
This sounds awesome - can Spark AI help me with episode ideas?
You bet! Thanks to how we integrate all of Captivate’s features, not only can Spark AI come up with episode ideas for you, but make sure you have topics to talk about, and guests to talk about them with!
Add Episode Idea: Spark AI will look at your analytics for the last 30 days, as well as the topics you usually talk about, and the trends across the whole web on those topics, and suggest three episode ideas for you
Title and Main Talking Points: based on the previous analysis, Spark AI will suggest a title for the episode, and key talking points for you and/or your guest to discuss on the episode
Guest Suggestions: based on the topics, Spark AI will then suggest what guests you could have on for that episode. Not only that, but you’ll also see a short bio for the guest, links to their online profiles, and even questions to ask them on the episode!
This can all then be used as part of our Episode Planning tool, helping you plan ahead for episodes and what you’ll need for each one.
Doesn’t AI make your content very formulaic, though?
It can, if you just hit create and forget about it - but that’s not the Captivate way. Instead, Spark AI is built to be as close to you and your tone of voice as possible, thanks to our Persona customizer and training feature.
What’s the Spark AI Persona customizer and training feature?
Simply put, this lets you filter what kind of results and suggestions Spark AI will make, based on your personality and writing style. By using any of our pre-set personas, and then customizing them to suit your style, Spark AI will be your best friend when it comes to creating content that is straight from your style and vibe!
Pre-built personas: choose from Simple and Fun, In-depth and Formal, or Custom
Customize your persona: become even more detailed on what kind of suggestions are made by Spark AI. Choose the tone for your text, whether you prefer first-person, second-person, or third-person, if the tone is humorous, and how simple or complex the language is
Tone of voice training: as smart as Spark AI is at creating your persona, there’s nothing like getting it straight from the horse’s mouth. With tone of voice training, you can share up to 5 links of your own publications, and we’ll analyze them for writing style and personality
Can I tweak Spark AI suggestions and results?
Of course! If the initial results aren’t quite what you’re looking for, you can choose to either regenerate specific results (titles, summary, show notes, etc) or start all over again and regenerate everything.
So how does Spark AI work?
Everything is based off your audio file upload and the subsequent transcript we create for that. By analyzing the transcript text, we can then suggest titles, summaries, etc, for that specific episode.
What AI software do you use - OpenAI, ChatGPT, Jasper, etc?
Spark AI uses a mix of several tools, since we found that one tool on its own might be good at one thing, but less so at another. By utilizing a multi-tool approach, we can make the results the best they can be for our podcasters.
I read about concerns around AI, and how it trains itself on audio, etc, which can then be used to replace creators. Does Spark AI do this and, if so, can I opt out?
Spark AI is a fully opt-in platform - if you don’t wish to use Spark AI, it won’t be in use on your account. Spark only transcribes the audio file that’s been uploaded, after which we use the transcript to suggest titles, show notes, summaries, etc. We don’t analyze any voices, or train data based on a podcaster’s voice.
Is Spark AI multilingual?
Spark AI is English language only, currently. The AI may try and transcribe other languages, but results aren't guaranteed for those languages.
Okay, I’m sold - how much does this cost?
We wanted to make things super simple when it comes to using Spark AI, so because the only “hard cost” to us is the transcription service, that’s the only cost we’ll pass on.
Spark AI cost is based on the transcript - all other features are free
You can choose between a recurring monthly payment, or buying one-off top-ups as needed
Spark AI is $1 per hour of transcript. So, as an example, if you have a weekly show at 30 minutes per episode, that’ll be $0.50 per episode or $2 per month. Any unused time remains in use until the next episode, and so on - you won’t lose any unused time
If you're a heavy user of transcripts, the Monthly Spark AI Bundles would be the better option. You can choose between 5, 10, and 20 hours per months, and add that Spark Bundle to your account.
$5 per month gives you five hours of transcription that rolls over each month if unused. For any additional ad hoc top ups, you can purchase one-off blocks of 5, 10 or 20 hours that also remain on your account until used.
If you just use transcripts now and again, then the One-off Top-ups may be better suited to you. Simply choose between 5, 10, or 20 hours, and then click Buy Now to add to your account.
_Note: Only account owners with a paid Captivate plan can purchase Spark AI. If you're on annual billing, Spark AI will be charged for the year, or pro-rated by the remaining time until your next renewal. So, $60 per year if it's a new annual billing account, or $30 if you have 6 months left until your next renewal and then $60 per year after that._
That’s pretty good! How do I pay?
You can buy Spark AI straight from your Captivate dashboard. Or, if you use our Memberships and Tips feature and have earnings from that, you can convert earnings into Blocks and pay that way.
Recommend reading: Spark AI Settings Overview
Updated on: 29/10/2024
Thank you!