Google NotebookLM AI podcast hosts can now chat with you too

Google’s NotebookLM and its podcast-like audio reviews have been a surprise hit this year, and today Google is starting to roll out a massive modern feature: the ability to actually talk to AI review “hosts.”

Once this feature is available to you, you can try it out with modern audio previews. (This won’t work with the venerable ones.) Here’s how: according to the blog post: :

Create a modern audio review.

Tap the modern interactive mode button (BETA).

While listening, tap “Join.” The host will call you.

Ask your question. Hosts will respond with a personalized response based on your sources.

Once they respond, they will return to the original audio review.

Being able to talk to NotebookLM seems like a potentially useful way to get more information about what you’ve collected in the app. However, Google warns that this is an “experimental feature” and “hosts may also make awkward pauses before responding or sometimes introduce inaccuracies,” so the start may not be completely polished.

In addition to interactive audio overviews, Google is introducing a modern NotebookLM interface that divides everything into three areas: a “Sources” panel for information, a “chat” panel where you can talk to an AI chatbot about sources, and a “Chat” panel. studio” where you can create things like audio overviews and study guides. I think it looks nice.

Google also announces NotebookLM subscription: NotebookLM Plus. The subscription will give you “five times more audio overviews, notebooks, and sources per notebook,” let you “customize the style and tone of your notebook responses,” let you create team-shared notebooks, and offer “additional privacy and security,” Google says. The subscription is now available to companies, schools and universities, as well as organizations and corporate clients. It will be added to Google One AI Premium “in early 2025.”

Google is also launching “Agentspace,” a platform for custom AI agents for enterprises. “Agentspace can provide conversation assistance, answer complex questions, and proactively make suggestions and take actions based on unique information about your business,” Google says. It also includes connectors for applications such as Microsoft SharePoint, Jira, and ServiceNow.