Tushar Mehta / Android Authority
In spite of my job’s demands to keep up with AI, I have been a skeptic for a long time. AI is impressive, but it’s genuinely not accessible for all — not just for its cost, but also for the grit and constant iteration of prompts to master the result. However, if there’s one product that has reshaped my views, it is NotebookLM, which has truly transformed how I consume information, for reasons other than the fact that it takes excessive prompt engineering out of the question.
I have offloaded the unexciting aspects of learning to NotebookLM. That includes boring marketing or business newsletters, research papers, and video essays that I want to imbibe the best of, but without watching the idle chatter that those presenters engage in before getting to the point. You name it, and NotebookLM helps sort it out. And, one NotebookLM feature that particularly does most of the heavy lifting for me is Audio Overview. I’m inclined to believe it is also NotebookLM’s star performer — the feature that gets used the most.
Despite my admiration for NotebookLM, I believe a few additions could make it more efficient. For inspiration, we need look no further than Google’s own YouTube. But before I begin my account, I’d love to hear if you share my affection for NotebookLM.
Have you used NotebookLM's Audio Overview feature? If yes, what do you think about it? 4 votes It's great! I use it very often. 50 % I like it but it could use more features. 25 % I've yet to find it useful. 0 % I don't use it all. 25 % I haven't heard of Audio Overview. 0 % Something else (comment below) 0 %
Fundamental features NotebookLM needs
Andy Walker / Android Authority
The one NotebookLM feature I keep passionately telling everyone about — like I did to you above — is Audio Overview. In the rare event that you are unfamiliar with what it does, Audio Overview generates a podcast using AI, where two artificial hosts converse to explain a feature. The information is broken down into manageable chunks to make it easier to grasp, and the tone employed here is typically casual, engaging, and friendly.
Like I said above, I actively rely on it to consume any dry, expansive, or stretched-out chunk of knowledge, and consume those AI-generated podcasts while I’m burning elbow grease for chores, walking the dog, driving, etc. But while I do so, there are a few features I think would make NotebookLM and Audio Overview far more useful.
And so, the first change I hope for NotebookLM to adopt is the ability to save track progress. Picture this: a 15-minute Audio Overview condenses all the information you would otherwise spend a similar (or in some cases, more ) time reading through or listening to the actual source. So long as you listen to it in one go, it’s all great. And with the recently added Interactive feature, you can even interrupt the speakers or steer the conversation in a way that will ensure that you truly learn something valuable.
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