Google adds a feature to its AI note-taking app 'NotebookLM' that converts long documents into conversational audio, allowing users to summarize and explain source material

On September 11, 2024, Google introduced a feature to its AI-based note-taking app,

NotebookLM is a service that allows you to upload sources such as PDFs, text files, and URLs, and then understands the contents of those sources and summarizes and suggests text. How to use NotebookLM is summarized in the following article.

A review of how to use Google's AI service 'NotebookLM' that allows you to create your own AI for free by specifying Japanese websites and files - GIGAZINE

The new feature added to NotebookLM this time is an audio summary commentary function. To use this function, first access NotebookLM and upload the source. This time, we will load the PDF file ' AI and Copyright ' published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Agency for Cultural Affairs' Copyright Division.

Once loading is complete, the 'Notebook Guide' will be displayed. It will show an overview of the source and some suggested questions, but here, click 'Generate' under 'Audio Overview' in the upper right.

The conversation has started to be generated. You can also ask questions while you wait for the conversation to be generated.

It took 7 minutes to generate a 64-page document. The generated audio can be played on the spot, and you can change the playback speed or download it by clicking the '...' button in the upper right.

The generated audio is below. Based on the source material, two AI hosts, a man and a woman, will hold a discussion and explain the outline of the material, sometimes with jokes. At the time of writing, Audio Overview is in beta, so even if you input a Japanese source, the generated audio is only in English. In addition, according to Google, if the source is large, it may take a long time to generate or there may be inaccuracies.


'We know that listening to conversations helps us learn and remember things, so we're excited to bring voice discussions to NotebookLM,' Google said.

◆ Forum is currently open
A forum related to this article has been set up on the official GIGAZINE Discord server . Anyone can post freely, so please feel free to comment! If you do not have a Discord account, please refer to the account creation procedure article to create an account!

• Discord | 'Are you using Google's NotebookLM? What do you use it for?' | GIGAZINE
https://discord.com/channels/1037961069903216680/1283721688906858528