New Functionality From Google Notebook LM Is Pretty Amazing

17 Dec 2024 by John Werner · Forbes

Note book on grey wooden desk. Top view.getty

To say that there’s some buzz about Google‘s brand new update to Notebook LM would be an understatement.

Just like they did with the original version, users are posting examples of this recently boosted LLM podcast technology to YouTube and other channels. And what they’re showing off is really impressive.

Nathaniel Whittemore at the AI Daily Brief podcast notes that Google buried the lede by unveiling this stuff on a Friday afternoon, but now it’s Tuesday morning, and people are taking notice.

Notebook’s new interactive mode provides the ability to jump into the audio podcast where the two AI-generated hosts are bantering with each other, and ask your own questions or get your own comments heard. It adds a new dimension to what is already an extreme innovation, something that we’re not used to as communicators.

As Whittemore notes, the feature is experimental and has a lot of potential to change how we learn and how we use technology.

“This is likely to be the way that people start learning new things in the future,” he said of the new Notebook running on a Gemini engine, with improved UX and multiple modular panels. Whittemore also mentioned feedback from a notable MIT figure, Ethan Mollick, who said Google has a “knack” for making these kinds of systems. (Earlier this week, I wrote a piece about Whittemore’s coverage of Mollick’s essay “15 ways to use AI”).

Pointing out that while chatbots are classically digestible to us, Whittemore suggested people are ready to try new formats – and the new Notebook LM sure is a new way to chat!

Model Wars and the AI Race

In unboxing the new Notebook LM features, Whittemore talks about how other companies are trying to rival Google: for example, he noted, Perplexity has a lot of funding and new users, and apparently feels sanguine about its prospects.

On the other hand, he says, the maker of Notebook LM is going to be hard to beat.

“The lumbering giant is a lot less sleepy than it was a little while ago,” he said, referring to Google, which has been a leading name in tech for decades.

Using Notebook LM Interactive

Let’s talk about what it feels like to open up a Notebook LM audio podcast and jump right into the conversation.

First of all, these AI characters are so lifelike that they’re going to bamboozle quite a few people who end up interfacing with the technology. Everything from inflections and timing to the rich tone of a natural human voice is seamlessly delivered through the platform. There’s very little uncanny valley.

Over on YouTube, Bob Doyle shows us how you can actually add faces to these artificial people as they discuss anything that you prompt them to, in a way that sounds just like a couple of radio DJs, or people sitting in their garage or basement chatting about the events of the day.

But then with this new update, you take a step further and get into the mix yourself!

To me, it’s eerie how the ethereal duo address your questions, comments, and concerns in real time, even interrupting you during your spiel to say their piece. Their responses are targeted in the way that you would assume only humans can achieve – which is even more confusing, and gives you that feeling of AI vertigo that’s going to become so familiar to people on the frontier of these systems.

Here’s an example where Garry Lynn Baker from Thirty Minute Marketing is listening to a male and female podcast team talk about working from a hammock and enjoying a drink, while the money rolls in.

When he interjects to point out that this is not his personal version of idyllic success, the two unhuman entities mollify him with personal validation.

“You don’t want this kind of lifestyle,” the man says, “and that’s valid…” (not verbatim)

“Yeah,” says the woman. “Not everybody is into this kind of thing.” (Also not verbatim – you can listen to the whole thing here.)

That’s just one small example, and in this feature, which was previously in beta, you can talk to these disembodied friends about anything. As early reviewers note, you may hear some halting at points, but in my opinion, you’re not likely to feel like your conversation is artificial at all.

See For Yourself

Now that these technologies are out, it’s not just ivory tower researchers who can figure out how it feels to talk to AI.

We see Google putting out it first commercials for Gemini in your pocket, and even in the advertisements, the users are a little tentative.

“What do I do?” they ask.

“Just talk naturally,” Gemini tells them. “We can have a normal conversation.” (and again, this is not verbatim.) You can see the potential for AI guidance, mentoring and teaching, in the gentle way that Gemini eases users into interacting.

Talking to Non-People

Depending on your outlook, this kind of thing is either extremely exciting or incredibly disturbing or both. You decide. But Notebook LM’s groundbreaking utilities for tutoring, mentoring, research and more are really evident in this new design.