Google adds in the AI podcast creator from NotebookLM to its free Gemini AI chatbot

• Audio Overview is coming to Gemini and Gemini Advanced subscribers from today
• You can make great sounding podcasts out of articles and more, right in Gemini
• It works with Deep Research reports as well

Audio Overview is coming to Google’s AI chatbot Gemini, and I think it will change the way we use it for good. You can use Audio Overview to turn documents, slides, and even Deep Research reports into easy-to-listen-to podcasts.

The first time I tried Audio Overview I was blown away by how good it was. The podcasts it creates are essentially 10-minute-long shows narrated by two AI hosts who talk about whatever subject you’ve fed them via Google documents, PDFs, or even YouTube videos.

The point of Audio Overview is to speed up the learning process for students. So, instead of having to read all those books, or watch all those YouTube videos yourself, you can get AI to do it for you and then get it to tell you all the important bits in a short information blast, but as if you were listening to a podcast.

Getting in the mix

Audio Overview first appeared as part of Google’s NotebookLM research tool. It was particularly favored by students who didn’t like to read very much, but the technology for creating its AI podcasts worked way better than it had any right to and obviously had implications for projects far beyond the world of education.

Rather than sounding like two boring AI robots discussing a subject academically, the podcast hosts sound as if they were two real humans talking about a subject they both really cared about, with a lot of dynamic back and forth.

I quickly realized there was scope for creating podcasts about pretty much anything using Audio Overview, and I’ve been using it ever since. Now we can use it with Deep Research reports, it will be even better.

Gemini integration

NotebookLM was already free to use, but having Audio Overviews integrated into Gemini just makes them easier to access. Audio Overview is starting to roll out today to Gemini and Gemini Advanced subscribers, globally in English, with more languages coming soon.

They work in Gemini by simply uploading documents into the prompt bar and then choosing Generate Audio Overview from the suggestion chip that pops up. Audio Overviews work in both the web and mobile app versions of Gemini. Go to gemini.google.com to see if they’re available to you yet.

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