Google's NotebookLM now allows users to guide AI-generated audio conversations
Google has rolled out a major update for its artificial intelligence (AI) note-taking and research assistant, NotebookLM. The latest feature lets users steer AI-generated audio conversations based on their shared content. The improvement is designed to facilitate more targeted discussions on particular topics, instead of simply providing general audio summaries.
Audio overviews: A unique approach to information digestion
NotebookLM's audio Overviews have been a game-changer for users looking to comprehend information from long documents or videos via AI-generated discussions. This groundbreaking feature has taken off since its debut last month, with several users posting their audio summaries on social media. NotebookLM saw a whopping traffic spike of over 371% in September, according to SimilarWeb, garnering 3.07 million monthly visits from just 652,181 a month ago.
Customization for more focused audio overviews
Previously, Audio Overviews would automatically generate AI discussions from your sources. However, the process sometimes resulted in conversations revolving around less important content. To tackle this, Google has introduced an update that lets you customize the overviews based on your needs. A dedicated "Customize" control is now available before the existing "Generate" button, letting you instruct the AI hosts in the audio to focus on a specific point.
'Guide the conversation' feature for more specific audio overviews
The new feature, dubbed "Guide the Conversation," lets users give additional instruction and direction before creating a "Deep Dive" Audio Overview. This way, they can define precisely what they want the podcast to cover. For instance, you can now tell it to focus on particular topics from your materials or modify the expertise level of the conversation.
Google's commitment to user privacy and feedback in AI training
NotebookLM's product leader Raiza Martin has assured that while customizing audio summaries may help reduce hallucination to some extent, these user instructions won't be used to train the AI model. She said, "In general, we do not train on user data. So your use of it or whatever queries you enter, whatever answers you enter, we don't train the models with it." This highlights Google's commitment to user privacy in its AI development process.
Background listening for enhanced user experience
Along with the customization option, users also get the ability to listen to Audio Overviews in the background while continuing to work within NotebookLM. The feature, dubbed "Background Listening," takes the user experience a notch higher by letting them query their sources, get citations, and explore relevant quotes while the audio plays in the background.
NotebookLM business pilot program for organizations
Google has also launched NotebookLM Business pilot program, aimed at over 80,000 organizations already using NotebookLM. Businesses can apply for this pilot and if accepted, they'll get early access to product features, training, and email support. Martin explained that under the business pilot, her team trains organizations interested in using NotebookLM as to how other businesses are using it.
