I first heard about AI-generated podcasts about a year ago. I have pretty mixed feelings about them. I’d rather listen to real human hosts with a passion for their subject. But I also read that graduate students were using them to summarize papers, and listening to them while doing the dishes or on a walk. Knowing how impossible it is to keep up with the latest developments in science, I was intrigued by this, so I gave it a try, using Google’s NotebookLM.I uploaded a handful of papers I wanted to read, and created a podcast episode.
The results were fairly mixed. With technical papers, I didn’t feel like I gained much insight or understanding. The AI hosts engaged in a lot of “puffery.” They tend to exaggerate the significance or importance of things. Everything is a “big deal” and a “game changer.” Still, it was interesting. I’ve long wished there was a podcast where the host would geek out on the latest research in hydrology and earth science.
I’m left thinking there’s real potential here, but it will require more “human in the loop” creation process, where a person with knowledge and interest curates and edits the discussion. That might help the AI hone in on the more interesting or innovative aspects of a paper, or to reign in some of AI’s worst impulses, like repeating the phrases “deep dive” or “delve into.”
On a whim, I decided to create an AI podcast about my Global Watersheds web app. I uploaded the app’s Help/About page to Notebook LM, and asked it to create an “Audio Overview.” It is actually pretty good. I’m not sure how useful it is though to listen to people talking about software. In this case, it seems like a video would be more instructive.
The thing that is really uncanny about this is the emotion and realism of the AI voices. The AI hosts seem genuinely interested in the subject. There is something deeply flattering listening to two people discuss something you wrote and say how great it is.
On a second whim, I asked Notebook LM to create an infographic. It’s also not terrible. I’m actually a little jealous of how colorful and interesting it looks compared to some conference posters I’ve made.
