People like to learn through podcasts. The same is doubly true for a podcast catering towards your specific needs, even if the hosts aren’t exactly… real. That’s what Google reckons is cool about NotebookLM, a tool that’ll summarise any information you throw at it, with two AI-generated hosts built to care about whatever niche topic you do.
“Jamie, pull up facts about dinosaurs”
“We’ve received a lot of great feedback from the millions of people using NotebookLM, our tool for understanding and engaging with complex information. One of the most frequent requests has been for a mobile app — for listening to Audio Overviews on the go, asking questions about sources in the moment, and sharing content directly to NotebookLM while browsing,” it said in a blog post.
Google hasn’t wasted any time following through. The NotebookLM app, complete with many of the “core” features Google mentioned above, is already out on the Google Play Store for Android devices and the App Store for iOS and iPadOS. Audio Overviews is the feature you’re after, allowing anyone to curate customised podcasts with an even more defined list of sources.
If you’re in the middle of studying a topic and want to ask something specific, or just aren’t a fan of the rabbit hole your hosts are digging, you can hit the “Join” button in the app to have your voice heard and steer the conversation in a direction you’d prefer. And adding a new source to your trusted list can be done from nearly everywhere. See a website, a PDF, or a YouTube video? Just hit the share button and select NotebookLM.
