Google's NotebookLM now lets you customize the tone of its AI podcasts | TechCrunch

Google’s AI note-taking and research assistant NotebookLM now lets users customize the tone of their Audio Overviews, which are podcasts with AI virtual hosts that summarize and discuss documents shared with NotebookLM, such as course readings or legal briefs.

When generating an Audio Overview, users can now choose whether they want their AI podcasts to be formatted as a “Deep Dive,” “Brief,” “Critique,” or “Debate.”

A Deep Dive features conversational dialogues where two AI hosts unpack the topic with depth and questions. A Brief is a bite-sized overview that’s designed to help you quickly grasp the core ideas from your sources.

A Critique features a review of your sources and constructive feedback to help you improve, while a Debate includes two AI hosts offering different perspectives on your sources.

Each of the different formats lets you customize how long or short you want the AI podcast to be.

In addition to customizable tones, Google is also bringing a highly requested feature to NotebookLM, which is the addition of new voices for the AI podcasts.

The launch comes as Google has been building out NotebookLM over the past few months. A few weeks ago, the tech giant rolled out Video Overviews, which allow users to turn dense multimedia, such as raw notes, PDFs, and images, into digestible visual presentations.

NotebookLM recently also got access to a series of featured notebooks from various authors, publications, researchers, and nonprofits that allow users to explore a wide array of topics. And in May, Google officially rolled out standalone NotebookLM apps for Android and iOS.

The new formats for NotebookLM are launching in all languages and should be available to all users this week, Google says.