Google has launched a new feature within its AI-powered NotebookLM research assistant that turns your notes into a fake podcast.
To do so, users just need to click ‘Load’ under the new Audio Overview tool found within the Notebook guide. From here, NotebookLM will generate your notes into the form of a short audio podcast. We have tried it out for ourselves, and it’s freakishly realistic.
As explained on Google’s The Keyword blog, Audio Overview is “a new way to turn your documents into engaging audio discussions”. It further adds, “With one click, two AI hosts start up a lively ‘deep dive’ discussion based on your sources. They summarise your material, make connections between topics, and banter back and forth. You can even download the conversation and take it on the go.”
Currently, there are a range of Notebook examples you can use to try the feature yourself. We used one on the topic of a ‘mushroom boom’ in the town of Westward, California. The generated podcast featured both a male and female host, and their conversation was even filled with human-like discourse markers and filler words such as “right?”, “so get this” and “like”.
Though it covered the basics of the topic, it did feature a bit of rambling and felt very conversational upon first use. It’s not yet clear though how this feature will handle more sensitive topics, and whether or not the hosts’ attitudes would pivot in response to something more distressing.
Google does currently state that “it’s important to remember that these generated discussions are not a comprehensive or objective view of a topic, but simply a reflection of the sources that you’ve uploaded”.
Try it out now over at NotebookLM, or find out more via The Keyword.
