NotebookLM Now Lets You Customize AI Podcasts And The Results Are Unreal

When Google introduced Audio Overview aka AI podcast on NotebookLM last month, it went completely viral. Many said it’s Google’s mini ChatGPT moment. And now, the company has released a slew of updates to make NotebookLM even more interesting. You can now customize AI podcasts on NotebookLM with custom instructions.

Yes, it was one of the most requested features and Google has quickly added the feature. Basically, before generating an Audio Overview, you can add your own instructions and guide the conversation between AI hosts. It’s like passing a note to the AI hosts.

For example, you can ask it to focus on a specific source from your uploaded material, talk more about a specific topic, or simply ask the AI hosts to explain the topic based on the expertise level of your audience.

Put simply, you can specify your preferences and AI hosts will adhere to your instructions. That’s pretty cool, right? For example, I uploaded one of my articles on OpenAI’s internal conflict amid many researchers leaving the company and told NotebookLM to focus on Sam Altman. Well, the result was pretty surprising.

You can listen to the AI-generated podcast by yourself, and notice how well it followed my instructions. By the way, you can now listen to Audio Overviews in the background while chatting with your notebook without any interruptions.

Apart from that, Google has dropped the ‘Experimental’ label from NotebookLM which means it’s now a full-fledged product. Finally, Google has also announced NotebookLM for business users, universities, and organizations. They can apply for the NotebookLM Business pilot program to get early access.