My Experience Using AI Tools for My Online Course

I had a vision: to teach business owners everywhere how to successfully sell their business once they no longer wanted to run it or were just ready to retire.

But I had to find the right combination of tools to launch the course.

I knew I wanted to use my favorite course-creation platform, Teachable [check out my review], but despite all of the super useful AI tools the platform itself came with, I needed a lot of help to create the final product.

Here’s what I used, how I used it, and my tips and tricks for what to do (and what NOT to do) when using AI tools to create a course on Teachable.

Course Background

First, let’s talk about my course.

Top Dollar Exits is a course designed for business owners looking to sell their businesses. It provides a step-by-step guide along with practical tips on how to do everything from getting your business ready for a sale to finding the right buyer to how to handle financial gains from the sale itself.

The main voice of the course was a business selling expert who was very busy. Since we chose to do a course primarily using video content, we relied heavily on him as a presenter.

Unfortunately, he was busy, so we didn’t have much time for reshooting or edits. This gave us the perfect opportunity to use AI to fill in the blanks and flesh out the course

Using Teachable's Integrated AI Tools

The first thing we need to address is Teachable’s integrated AI tools for course creation.

Teachable itself has tools for everything from creating an outline to generating full course content and effective quizzes. They can even generate marketing copy to help you market your course to new audiences and raise enrollment.

We had ideas for all of the content we wanted to include in the course, so we primarily used the integrated Teachable AI tool for outline creation to give us a jumping-off point.

Check out our overview on Teachable AI Tools for more information on all of the helpful AI tools Teachable offers in-platform.

Third-Party AI Tools I Used for My Online Course

So, let’s look at the third-party AI tools I used to create this course!

As a broad overview, I used:

• Descript for video editing cleanup
• ElevenLabs for AI voice generation
• HeyGen  for AI avatar generation
• ChatGPT – Script writing

Descript – Video Editing Cleanup

First up is Descript, an AI video editor that streamlines the editing process. We used to clean up the “uhs,” “uhms,” and pauses to cut out dead space from the video modules in our course.

What Is Descript? How Much Does It Cost?

Descript is an all-in-one tool for video and audio editing, transcription, and captioning designed to simplify video editing. It includes features like screen recording, overdub voice editing, and drag-and-drop functionality, allowing users to create professional-grade videos and podcasts effortlessly.

Descript makes it easy to produce accessible, polished videos for any platform, including video modules for online courses.

• Pricing: from $12 per month.

How We Used Descript

I used it mainly for two reasons:

1. To clean up “ahhs” and “uhms” and to remove any pauses.

This saved us a lot of manual effort upfront. Of course, we still watched the video and edited the clips manually, but only after we ran it through Descript.

It helped make recording process itself smoother too, since we didn’t have to worry about doing multiple takes and could just keep going with the knowledge we could run it through Descript later.

2. To actually generate audio.

We did this by having our presenter record and upload a sample. This feature was helpful, especially for someone who was doing the editing and was not present during the recording. I could just ask our presenter to record their voice for authentication and send it over rather than trying to share access to the account and have the presenter do everything themself.

Other AI tools on this list, like HeyGen, don’t allow for uploading (which is understandable for security and identity reasons), but it’s super helpful that you can upload the audio sample to build the voice from.

Unfortunately, using this feature you can’t really edit the voice clips, you can only mess with playback speed. There are some other apps on this list that allow you to have more editing control, so we recommend using those instead for voice editing.

Descript Samples

Here are some examples of what this tool looks like in practice:

Descript Video Editing Sample:

Descript Voice Generator Sample:

Descript Pros

• Saves Time: Streamlines the editing process, cutting the time required to create polished videos and audio in half.
• Efficient Content Editing: Removed unnecessary bits, allowing for whole section deletions, and adding natural cuts to videos in a way that wasn’t clunky or awkward.
• AI Voice Control: Offered plenty of control over AI-generated voiceovers, enabling precise adjustments.

Descript Cons

• Lack of Enthusiasm in AI Audio: AI-generated audio lacked the natural enthusiasm and emphasis of human narration.
• Limited Customization: While it’s plenty versatile, there are better tools on this list for more advanced or specific audio effects.

My Recommendation on Using Descript

Descript is an essential tool for video editing. It really saves a lot of time by getting rid of the extra ahhs and pauses for you. It can turn a 20-minute video review down to a 10-minute video, which you can then review to make final edits.

I wouldn't use Descript to generate long bits of audio, but I think it’s great for small adjustments.

When I used it for these adjustments, I would hide the audio adjustment behind a visual (like a graphic or bulleted list on the screen) in the course versus showing Dave, the presenter, speaking. This helped it blend together more seamlessly in a way that’s less noticeable to watchers.

ElevenLabs – AI Voice Generator

Next up is ElevenLabs, an AI voice generator that is able to replicate a human voice, which we used to fill in the blanks when we couldn’t record real audio from our presenter.

What Is ElevenLabs? How Much Does It Cost?

ElevenLabs is an AI voice generator that turns text into realistic, natural-sounding speech.

You can tweak the tone, accent, and emotion to match whatever vibe you’re going for, making it great for things like voiceovers or presentations. It also supports multiple languages and even lets you clone voices, which is pretty handy for creating unique audio content.

• Pricing: from free, Starter $5 per month

How We Used ElevenLabs

We mainly used Eleven Labs to come up with extra audio for the video modules that we couldn't rerecord with Dave. It was our main tool to recreate Dave’s voice whenever we needed it.

I will state that it doesn't generate video, so you do have to be strategic when you use this. Similarly to how we dealt with Descript’s voice feature, we always showed visuals on screen to “mask” the AI voice slightly so that you couldn’t tell it wasn’t really Dave speaking.

ElevenLabs Samples

Here are the samples from what we got from the tool to show the different styles of voices you can generate based on the settings:

Different Voices:

Longer Voice Sample:

From these samples, it’s obvious that the input really influences the final output a lot, so it’s important to make sure to select a good input for the AI voice to use. Note that if you change the voice settings too much, it can produce some weird outputs like this.

ElevenLabs Pros

• Advanced Voice Editing: Offers options to adjust voice “stability,” “similarity” to the original, and “style exaggeration” for more control over the output.
• Flexible Voice Cloning: Provides both instant voice cloning (quick and simple, but the quality is still good) and professional voice cloning (requires a 30 minute sample for higher quality).
• Credit-Basd Regeneration: Allows one free regeneration of audio output without burning through credits, which was much appreciated.

ElevenLabs Cons

• Occasional Unintelligible Speech: Sometimes produces audio that’s difficult to understand, as shown in samples.
• Lengthy Sample Requirement for Professional Cloning: Professional voice cloning requires a 30-minute minimum sample, which is a lot.

My Recommendation Using ElevenLabs

I highly recommend using AI audio as a supplement for both long-form and short-form content. I think with some tweaking, the results can be good enough for faceless videos, offering a convenient alternative to recording the whole thing. If you’re aiming for the highest quality, the Professional voice cloning option is worth considering, though the quick clone worked well enough.

Be careful of the settings— I followed some best practices and they didn’t work for me, so expect to experiment and adjust for your needs. Also, if you’re mixing AI audio with a real voice, be careful. The difference can sometimes be noticeable, especially in pitch and quality, so think carefully about how and when to integrate AI audio.

I've noticed that sometimes switching the model to V1 actually resolved a lot of issues I was having.

HeyGen – AI Avatar Generator

HeyGen is an AI video and avatar generator that has the ability to translate content into different languages that we intended to use for AI avatar generation (we’ll get into that later).

What Is HeyGen? How Much Does It Cost?

HeyGen is an AI-powered tool that lets users create realistic video avatars for a variety of uses, like training videos, marketing content, or virtual presentations.

You can customize the avatars’ appearance, voice, and expressions to your specifications. With a simple interface, HeyGen makes it easy to create engaging, human-like avatars without requiring crazy technical skills.

• Pricing: Free plan available, plans from $29 per month

How We Used HeyGen

We tried HeyGen to generate an AI version of Dave, thinking it could be a handy solution for making edits that couldn’t be hidden behind visuals. The idea was to use the AI avatar for quick fixes or updates without needing to re-record.

However, after testing it out, we decided the tool wasn’t the right fit for our specific needs. While it’s a cool concept, it just didn’t align with the level of quality or consistency we were aiming for here.

HeyGen Samples

Here are some examples of what HeyGen made for us:

HeyGen Avatar (Left) vs Real-Life (Right) Screenshot:

As you can see, this shows a difference in lighting and Dave’s movement, which would be all too noticeable if they were cut side by side in the video.

You can also tell that the facial expressions and body language tend not to match up with what Dave is saying, so it wasn’t in our best interest to use the avatar for this course.

HeyGen Pros

• Customizable Avatars: Offers fully customizable appearance, voice, and expressions for video creation.
• Language Translation: Enables multilingual content, making it great for reaching diverse audiences.

HeyGen Cons

• Inconsistent Quality: Noticeable differences in lighting, movement, and facial expressions make it unusable for hybrid projects with human recordings.
• Audio-Lip Sync Issues: Audio doesn’t always align perfectly with the avatar’s lip movements, which can be kind of creepy.
• Unnatural Body Language: Facial expressions and body movements often lack realism, reducing believability for an unsettling result.

My Recommendation on Using HeyGen

In general, I think HeyGen is a good tool, just maybe not for this purpose if you already have a human recording most of the course video. I would either use this as an all or nothing type of deal; either use the HeyGen avatar for the whole video (for consistency) or not at all.

I also think the difference between the avatar and the real human is subtle, but something just seemed off. The audio didn't seem to match with the lips 100% and the body language was a bit off, which was honestly just kind of creepy.

I would say I wouldn’t not recommend it. It's a pretty cool tool that I trust will only get better.

I’ll probably use this on its own to create supplemental videos for the course instead of mixing it in with “human Dave”.

ChatGPT – Help with Script Writing

Lastly, you love to hate it, good old ChatGPT, which we used to help with script writing for the video modules in our course.

What Is ChatGPT? How Much Does It Cost?

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI that can generate human-like responses to text prompts. It’s great for answering questions, brainstorming ideas, and even writing content, making it a versatile tool for work or personal use.

You can use it for research, content creation, and even casual conversation.

• Pricing: free, Plus from $20 per month

How We Used ChatGPT

We paired it with Teachable’s AI Curriculum Generator to see what ChatGPT recommended to add. Then, we would use it to create a first draft, but have a human editor go through and fact check and add examples and action items.

We used it to get started, but we never used it as our main form of writing. It has great output, but it’s a machine, so it can’t do what a human writer can.

We also asked it to help with visual aids (graphic designs, informational icons) to help make the “topic” we were covering in each particular module more clear to students.

ChatGPT Pros

• Time-Saving: Quickly generates drafts, ideas, and outlines, speeding up the content creation process.
• Versatile Tool: Helped with things like scriptwriting, brainstorming, and creating visual aid ideas for course materials.
• Cost-Effective: Has a free tier and an affordable paid option.

ChatGPT Cons

• Requires Human Oversight: Outputs need fact-checking and editing to make sure the info is accurate, especially for educational content.
• Limited Depth: Struggles with producing nuanced or creative content compared to a human writer.

My Recommendation On Using ChatGPT

I would recommend using ChatGPT for sure, since it's a quick and easy way to get started for brainstorming and coming up with the big picture of the course. Huge time-saver, here.

I’d recommend having it do a first draft, but then having a human editor fact-check and make sure everything makes sense! This is a course after all, and you don't want to mislead with AI.

Conclusion

In general, I will say that all of these tools are good to supplement your course creation process with. They can automate and streamline parts of the process to make it easy for you to focus on the more important parts of the course.

That being said, it’s really important that I say that I don't think we’re at a stage where AI can be completely hands-off in creating content without any human involvement. They have a long way to go and will likely never fully replicate what a human can do.

I say feel free to use AI Tools to save time rather than do the entire job for you. Your insight is essential, especially if you’re creating a course to educate people using your own expertise.

Frequently Asked Questions

What AI tools did you use to create your Teachable course?

I used Teachable’s integrated AI tools, Descript for video editing, ElevenLabs for AI voice generation, and HeyGen for AI avatars.

Can AI tools replace human involvement in course creation?

No, AI tools are great for supplementing tasks, but human oversight is still necessary to ensure accuracy and quality.

Which AI tool saved you the most time?

Descript saved the most time by automating video editing and cleaning up pauses and filler words.

How do you recommend using AI for course creation?

Use AI tools for brainstorming, drafting, or automating tasks, but always review and refine the output to match your standards.

Are AI-generated voices or avatars convincing enough for courses?

They can work for supplemental content, but differences in realism and quality mean they’re best used strategically, not mixed with human recordings.