Google is adding a 'join' feature to its NotebookLM AI podcast generator, so you can become part of the show.

Date:
Mon, 16 Dec 2024 12:09:47 +0000

Description:
New 'join' feature is being rolled out and a NotebookLM Plus subscription is coming in early 2025.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Google is adding new customization features to NotebookLM A new 'join' feature is rolling out so you can become part of the podcast NotebookLM Plus will be launched in early 2025

Google is enhancing its popular AI podcast generator NotebookLM with the addition of a 'join' feature that enables you to join in the chat with the
two AI hosts and ask your own questions, which they can respond to. Google
has also added more customization features to the free NotebookLM, and is adding a paid-for Plus tier with more features in early 2025.

NotebookLM is really a research tool from Google Labs that's designed to help you absorb complex topics quickly. You feed PDF documents, websites, podcasts and YouTube videos into it and it produces an AI Audio Overview on the topic, which you can listen to and get all the salient points from. The Audio Overview takes the form of a podcast show conducted between two AI hosts, and it sounds so much like a natural conversation that its hard to believe its been created by AI.

Its this ability to produce human-like conversations that has set NotebookLM apart from other AI tools. If you want to hear how good it is, check out this Audio Overview of this very article . New customization tools (Image credit: Apple/Google)

Google has given NotebookLM a bit of a refresh in recent days, adding more customization options to its interface. There are now three sections to the main interface: a Sources bar on the left, the Notebook guide window in the main part of the screen, and a Chat window at the bottom.

The Sources bar is pretty much the same as it always was you can select
which of the sources you want to go into the audio overview mix here, and add more. The Notebook guide window is where you create your Audio Overview, and the Chat window is there for you to ask questions and get AI-generated
answers based on your sources.

The final new feature worthy of note is a Customize button that appears when you want to generate your Audio Overview. Here you can type in what youd like the podcast to focus on before it's generated. So, for example, you could
type in 'Put more emphasis on Chapter 2 of the document' or 'Focus more on
the underlying themes of power and ambition'.

Behind the scenes, NotebookLM is now using the Gemini 2.0 model that Google released on December 11. However, the really interesting new feature is the ability for users to join the AI conversation, which is rolling out now. Joining a podcast

After youve created your Audio Overview you simply tap the Interactive mode button, then hit play to start your Audio Overview. At any point you can tap the new 'Join' button to join in. When you do a host will invite you to join the conversation, and you can ask it a question.

Below is a video showing how it works. This feature wasn't available to us when we tried today (December 16), but it's rolling out as we speak.

Finally, as if all that wasnt enough, in early 2025 Google is bringing out a paid-for tier to NotebookLM subscription tier called NotebookLM Plus. Details are pretty sketchy at the moment, but you'll be able to create 5x more Audio Overviews, plus you'll be able to customize the length and style of your notebook responses.

It looks like 2025 is going to be an exciting year for AI podcasting. You might also like... How to use NotebookLM, Googles new AI audio generator that lets you make a stunningly real AI podcast without a mic Goodbye, unreliable weather forecasts? Google DeepMind's AI model sets new benchmark for 15-day predictions These were the most popular podcast episodes of 2024, according
to Apple Podcasts



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/google-is-adding-a -join-feature-to-its-notebooklm-ai-podcast-generator-so-you-can-become-part-of -the-show


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