Google’s NotebookLM now lets you talk to its AI podcast hosts

A few months ago, Google’s NotebookLM note-taking app debuted an Audio Overviews feature that generates a podcast with AI virtual hosts based on information you have shared with the app.

Now NotebookLM is rolling out the ability for users to interact with the AI podcast hosts.

The idea behind Audio Overviews and the AI hosts is to give users a new way to digest and comprehend the information in the documents they have uploaded to the app, such as course readings or legal briefs.

With this new feature, you can talk to the AI hosts and ask them for more details or to explain a concept to you differently. Google said in a blog post that the experience is like having a personal tutor who listens to you and then responds based on knowledge from the sources you have provided.

You can use the feature by first creating a new Audio Overview, tapping the “Interactive mode (BETA)” button, and then hitting play. From there, you can tap “Join” when you want to ask a question. A host will then call on you to speak.

Google notes that this is an experimental feature and that it only works with new Audio Overviews. Plus, the company says hosts may also “pause awkwardly before responding,” and since it’s a test feature, they may occasionally respond inaccurately.

People have generated more than 350 years’ worth of Audio Overviews since the feature’s launch in September, Google said.

NotebookLM is also getting a redesign that reorganizes the app’s tools across three panels: Sources, Chat, and Studio. Plus, Google is rolling out a premium version of the app for enterprises, called “NotebookLM Plus,” that introduces additional benefits.