If you know anything about me, you know that I created two podcasts. The Shades Cahaba Oral History Project and Alabama Short Stories. Creating those podcasts took a lot of time and effort to write and record each episode. I would do a lot of research for each story before I sat down and wrote the scripts. I would spend hours recording and editing the episodes and finding the right sound effects to enhance the story. When the recordings are finished, I would upload them to the podcast publisher, write descriptions, create links and artwork, and share them on social media. I enjoyed the process, but it took so much time.
Imagine creating a podcast without ever stepping in front of a microphone. Today, thanks to AI, you can bring your words to life in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago.
I didn’t use any AI (Artificial Intelligence) when creating my podcast other than the grammar check available through the program Grammarly. While it has more AI built in today, I used it to make sure that I at least sounded like I passed high school English. I wasn’t opposed to using AI; it just wasn’t available as it is today.
The demands of podcast production made me wonder: could AI simplify any of this? Fast forward to today, and tools like Google’s NotebookLM offer a way to streamline research and content creation like never before.
In July 2023, Google Labs introduced an experimental program called Project Tailwind. It was touted as a new kind of notebook to help people learn faster. Today, this is called NotebookLM. In a nutshell, a user opens a new notebook, uploads files from Google Drive, websites, and YouTube, and pastes text. NotebookLM would take this information and generate summaries, explanations, and answers to help them learn more about the subject. It is a virtual research assistant.
One feature of NotebookLM that stood out to me and excites me the most about this program is that you can create an audio overview of the subject in your notebook. You can listen to an AI-created podcast based on the information in your notebook.
I took one of my favorite blog posts, “Career advice from a graphic designer,” published in December 2021. I wrote it because I had been asked by a friend to give some advice to his niece, a new graphic designer. I pasted the text into a new NotebookLM notebook with no other notes and created an audio overview. About 5 minutes later, I downloaded a podcast episode with a man and a woman discussing my blog post and the advice I gave new graphic designers. I never added my name to the upload, so they kept referring to me as “the expert.” The banter between these two AI hosts was very believable and easy to listen to, even though they were a little too excited about the advice I was giving.
I have uploaded this “podcast” so you can hear it yourself. It’s at the bottom of this story. Reading the column probably takes 5 minutes, but the podcast is over 17 minutes long. Overall, the content seems pretty accurate. It misses certain nuances that AI is prone to do. For example, my dad’s joke about telling me, “you won’t make any money,” is treated as a tough-love moment. The language my podcasters use is believable and had an easy back-and-forth discussion without sounding like the robots that they are.
With Notebook LM, Google allows you to learn about the subject you have uploaded into your notebook. The audio overview is just another way to help you learn about the subject. Google probably didn’t think this could be used for a podcast, as I have done here.
As AI continues to evolve, now is the perfect time to experiment with new ways to be creative. Whether you are an artist, storyteller, writer, or just curious about this new technology, these new tools will change daily, and you may find that they open doors to creative possibilities.
The information I uploaded for the podcast was my own. If you upload third-party information to create your own podcast, I am sure that you could run into copyright issues or generate wrong information if you don’t know the subject matter. At the bottom of the notebook guide, Google states, “NotebookLM may still sometimes give inaccurate responses, so you may want to confirm any facts independently.” You should keep this advice in mind for all AI programs you use.
AI is moving fast; if you don’t keep up with what is new, you risk being left behind. Google’s NotebookLM is another AI program that can help you stay ahead of the game.
AI feature image created with Adobe Firefly.