\n<\/p>\n
It\u2019s meant to build on NotebookLM\u2019s existing features that help you interact with all your notes<\/a>, transcripts, and other research documents. The app already uses Google\u2019s Gemini AI model to help summarize your research, and this is sort of like an audio version of that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Google isn\u2019t making things up when it says the AI hosts will \u201cbanter\u201d with each other, either. When trying out Audio Overview for myself, I plugged in one of the sample notebooks about the invention of the lightbulb, and the results were… a bit uncanny. During the 10-minute-long overview, the two hosts had a lighthearted discussion about how Thomas Edison wasn\u2019t the only person behind the lightbulb and that \u201cin the end, it\u2019s actually a story about teamwork, making the dream work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The hosts could almost<\/em> be mistaken for human podcasters, from the way they emphasized \u201cbam!\u201d when tossing it in the middle of a sentence to using modern phrasing like \u201cmessy as heck.\u201d There were still a couple of quirks, as I noticed the AI spelling out certain words and phrases, like \u201cP-L-U-S.\u201d Some of the writing wasn\u2019t exactly what a human would say, either, with one AI host calling platinum \u201cbling bling metal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The feature makes learning about research more engaging, but I\u2019m wondering whether the hosts would maintain their lighthearted, somewhat jokey tone when discussing more serious topics, like cancer or war. There\u2019s quite a bit of filler during the conversation as well, so it might not be the best way to quickly and clearly distill all your information. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n That\u2019s something Google mentions in its announcement, as it says the feature is \u201cnot a comprehensive or objective view of a topic, but simply a reflection\u201d of your notes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are some other limitations to Audio Overview as well, as Google says it could take several minutes to generate a podcast-like discussion, and it\u2019s only available in English. Like many AI tools, it isn\u2019t always accurate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n You can try out the feature for yourself by opening up a notebook in NotebookLM<\/a>. From there, select the Notebook guide in the bottom-right corner of the screen, and then hit Load<\/strong> beneath the \u201cAudio Overview\u201d heading. I know I\u2019m going to be doing some research on a random topic just so I can hear what the AI podcasters have to say.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n