I’ve just seen something that has really impressed me. AI that can turn text into a conversation - basically creating a bespoke podcast.
Google has released not one, but two such platforms. To use Illuminate you have to join a waitlist, but the Audio Overview feature on NotebookLM is ready to go, right now, for free.
It genuinely blew my mind to upload all 420 pages of my Big Book of Numbers (a PDF version), and then only 5 minutes later, listen to a 10-minute review by two people discussing the essence of my book.
This ‘podcast’ format included the hosts covering extensive ground, such as:
Providing great explanations of multiple excerpts
Telling a cute story from the foreword
Challenging listeners to look for hidden maths in the world around them
And saying of me - “He’s like the math whisperer - taming the wild equations and stuff”
I’ll take that!
As with so many tools we are seeing at this point in the AI revolution, NotebookLM and Illuminate are only early iterations.
If audio is the way you best absorb information, imagine a world in which you can upload a textbook, or a complex work of nonfiction, and ask to have it presented back to you as, say, a 25-minute podcast, at a level of difficulty perfect for your background knowledge.
Create your own podcast for free at NotebookLM (simply click 'new Notebook' and upload a PDF of text). And check out some text-to-podcast examples from Illuminate here.
That’s all from me for now. If you'd like more geeky fun, please check out my other newsletters below, or connect with me on LinkedIn and/or X.
Yours in numbers,
Adam
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