Two weeks ago, I posted a video showing off the insanely capable Audio Overview tool in NotebookLM, Google’s experimental AI service. Today, the online giant added two interesting new features to Audio Overview that make it even more compelling.
“NotebookLM is a tool for understanding, built with Gemini 1.5,” Google’s Jason Spielman and Oliver King explain. “When you upload your sources, it instantly becomes an expert, grounding its responses in your material and giving you powerful ways to transform information. And since it’s your notebook, your personal data is never used to train NotebookLM.”
Google announced NotebookLM in December 2023, describing it at the time as an experimental AI-powered note-taking app. Since then, it’s been updated several times and Google has expanded its availability. Today, NotebookLM drops the experimental tag, and is adding even more features.
Two are tied to the Audio Overview feature that I used recently to transform a lengthy 2012 Steven Sinofsky blog post into a chatty, conversational podcast with two virtual hosts:
Guide the conversation. This feature is like giving the AI podcast hosts a note that explains which topics they should focus on in the source material and level of expertise they should have.
Background listening. Now you can listen to an Audio Overview while working in NotebookLM without interrupting the audio.
I tried adapting my existing recording, but it looks like you have to start a new notebook to use these features. So I fired up the original blog post and gave it a shot in a new notebook. I asked the Overview to focus on Arm, SoC, and Metro, and NotebookLM generated a new Audio Overview over several minutes, returning with a 10-plus minute podcast recording much like the first. I’ll need to listen in fully to try and understand the differences, but the quality still amazes.
Aside from that, Google also announced NotebookLM Business today. This new version of NotebookLM is coming soon and will be offered via Google Workspace with additional features for businesses, universities, and organizations. If you’re interested in this offering, you can apply for the pilot program. Google says it will provide more details about availability and pricing later in 2024.