Transform Documents into Podcasts: Try Google NotebookLM’s New Audio Overview

Google’s NotebookLM now features ‘Audio Overview,’ turning documents into engaging AI-driven audio discussions. Convert files to audio and download to listen anytime!

3 min readSep 13, 2024

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NotebookLM launched by Google has added a new feature called “Audio Overview” , which allows users to convert the content of uploaded documents into audio conversations. This feature summarizes the uploaded documents into a conversation through an “in-depth discussion” between two AI hosts, helping users to understand the information auditorily. Users can download the generated audio and listen to it anytime, anywhere.

Podcast generated using the latest keyword blog posts about NotebookLM as source materia.

Main Features of Audio Overview

AI Moderator Discussion

Once the user uploads the document and clicks the Generate button, two AI moderators will initiate a conversation-like discussion, digging into the main content in the document.
They summarize the content, explore themes in the document, and try to make connections between different concepts, providing users with a conversational learning experience.

Supports multiple data types

NotebookLM supports a variety of user-uploaded sources and can generate audio summaries based on these contents. Users can use this tool to quickly understand complex documents or research reports.
The generated content is not a comprehensive analysis of the document, but rather a summary based on information provided by users, and is not necessarily absolutely objective or comprehensive.

Download the audio overview anytime

Users can generate and download audio files and carry them with them for listening during their commute or other free time, increasing flexibility in learning and information processing.

Integration with other NotebookLM features

In addition to audio generation, NotebookLM can also quickly create study guidesGemini 1.5 multimodal model, presentation documents, etc. These features are supported by Google’s.
These functions help to better organize and extract key information from materials and simplify the processing of complex information.

Data Privacy and Security

Google emphasizes that NotebookLM will not use user personal information to train models, ensuring the privacy and security

Experimental stage and known limitations

The Audio Overview feature is currently in an experimental stage

and may have some limitations:

Generation speed: Generating audio for large notes may take several minutes.
Language supportEnglish: Currently only dialogue is supported.
Not completely accurate: Sometimes the host’s explanation may not be accurate enough, especially when the content is complex or technical in nature.
Limited interactivity: Currently users cannot insert questions or interrupt the host during the conversation generation process.

How to use Audio Overview

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