I've heard so many people say that podcasts are just something they have playing in the background while they do other things that I have no trouble believing that they'd play an AI podcast in the same way.

I personally would not bother with AI generated podcasts, they're such low bar, why waste time where there's so much other great content to catch up on? But I think you may be right, I wouldn't be surprised if people take them in with no fuss. But then what do I care? What I care most is that they'll pollute the search space. I'd filter out all GenAI content if I had the option and Im guessing that will become an option soon.