Google’s AI note-taking and research assistant, NotebookLM, has introduced a new feature that allows users to customize the tone of their Audio Overviews. These Audio Overviews are essentially AI-generated podcasts where virtual hosts summarize and discuss documents a user has shared with the tool, such as course readings or legal briefs.
When generating an Audio Overview, users can now select from several distinct formats. The “Deep Dive” option creates a conversational dialogue where two AI hosts unpack the topic in depth, asking questions along the way. The “Brief” format provides a bite-sized overview designed to help you quickly grasp the core ideas from your sources. For a more analytical approach, the “Critique” offers a review of your sources with constructive feedback. The “Debate” format features two AI hosts presenting different perspectives on the material. Each format also allows users to customize the length of the resulting AI podcast.
In addition to these new tonal customizations, Google is adding a highly requested feature: new voices for the AI podcast hosts. This update is part of Google’s ongoing effort to build out NotebookLM’s capabilities. Just a few weeks ago, the company rolled out Video Overviews, a feature that lets users transform dense multimedia like raw notes, PDFs, and images into digestible visual presentations.
NotebookLM has also recently gained access to a series of featured notebooks from various authors, publications, researchers, and nonprofits, enabling users to explore a wide array of pre-built topics. Furthermore, Google officially launched standalone NotebookLM apps for Android and iOS back in May.
According to Google, these new Audio Overview formats are launching in all supported languages and should be available to all users this week.