Adobe’s Project Shasta is an AI-powered, web-based audio editor

Adobe is testing out a new web-based tool that uses AI to simplify audio recording. The software is called , and it could make recording and editing podcasts and other projects a lot easier and more approachable.

The project started off in Adobe Labs as an experiment to find “new ways to help people edit audio on the web,” Mark Webster, Adobe’s head of audio products, wrote in a post on Product Hunt. “But then it became clear that the pandemic made recording difficult too, even for audio professionals. Our vision became empowering everyone with the tools they needed to create professional sounding audio.”

The result is a browser-based tool — it requires Google Chrome — for creating and editing audio recordings in a visual interface without the need for professional equipment or other advanced tools. 

Users record their audio in clips and Shasta automatically transcribes the recordings. From there, editing is as simple as deleting text from the transcription. There are also AI-based filters that can improve the audio quality or automatically remove filler words like “um.” Project Shasta also supports remote recording, so guest speakers can easily join in for recordings. The software will handle syncing up the clips even if one person has a shoddy internet connection. 

While the most obvious use case for Shasta is recording podcasts, Webster notes it could also be used for voiceovers, videos and other projects with an audio component. 

For now, it’s unclear exactly what Adobe has planned for Project Shasta. Webster said that the software is in an “early Alpha” stage, and that the company is sharing it now to get feedback from testers, but didn’t share when it might be available more widely. Project Shasta is “free for now” to those who request access via Adobe’s website.