It’s easy to feel like the hosts of your go-to podcast are your friends. They’re casual, funny, and authentic; you clean the house and drive to work with them. It feels like you could easily have a two-way conversation with them. Well, now you can—at least, with AI-powered podcasts from Google’s research-focused NotebookLM interface.
Google’s Latest Update Lets You Interact With Podcast “Hosts” on NotebookLM
Google is rolling out a new update toNotebookLM, its comprehensive AI-powered research assistant designed for scholars. Not to be confused withGoogle’s new Deep Research tool for Gemini, NotebookLM is self-contained, using AI to synthesize only the resources you give it. In return, the assistant offers a number of ways for you to digest those materials, including briefing docs, study guides, and Audio Overviews, which are essentially podcast episodes on your study topic.
To be clear: an Audio Overview is not just an audible summary of the material. The overview features two hosts that carry out a conversation complete with colloquialisms, from “like’s” to “it’s crazy,” in a tone reminiscent of the podcasts we know and love. It’s eerily reminiscent, really.
Now, you may jump into those conversations between the two podcast “hosts,” adding a thought or posing a question.
Google is slowly rolling out this Interactive mode in beta.
How to Join the Conversation
According to Google, the new Interactive mode will slowly roll out to all users. You won’t be able to apply the mode to an existing Audio Overview, so you should create a new one to see if you have the feature.
If the beta feature has made it to your device, you should see anInteractive mode (BETA)button emerge after you generate an Audio Overview, according toGoogle’s blog postcovering the update. HitPlay, and then you’ll be able to tapJointo participate. The host will essentially call on you when ready for your question.
Of course, as with all AI products at this stage, the feature won’t be flawless. Google covers its bases with this disclaimer:
“This is an experimental feature and only works on new Audio Overviews. Hosts may also pause awkwardly before responding and may occasionally introduce inaccuracies.”
Hey, it’s not like we don’t get awkward moments in real conversations, too.
Pay a Premium for More
While the product has been and continues to be free for all Google users, there is now a new option to upgrade to a paid monthly subscription for NotebookLM. Announced alongside Interactive mode, Google now offers NotebookLM Plus, which gives you additional perks beyond what you get with the free version. A few highlights of NotebookLM Plus include:
According toGoogle Support, the free version supports up to 100 notebooks, up to 50 sources per notebook, and up to three audio generations per day. NotebookLM Plus will multiply each of those numbers by five.
For now, the free version of NotebookLM seems more than enough for an individual user, and Plus might be fit for an organization or company. I have yet to see Interactive mode on my device, but I look forward to participating with my AI “friends” when the time comes. Of course, I’ll keep one foot firmly planted in reality. Fortunately, withself-contained models like NotebookLM, there’s less chance of AI assistants giving hallucinated or irrelevant responses, keeping these conversations grounded.
