Google NotebookLM AI podcasts add ‘interactive’ mode for some Q-and-A

Google’s NotebookLM and its podcast-like Audio Overviews have been a hit this year, and today Google is rolling out a major new feature: the ability to actually talk to AI “masters” of the overview.

If the feature is available to you, you can try it with the new audio overview. (It won’t work with older ones.) Here’s how, according to the blog:

Create a new Audio Overview.

Tap the new Interactive mode (BETA) button.

While listening, tap “Join.” The host will call you.

Ask your question. Hosts will respond with a personalized response based on your sources.

After answering, they will resume the original Sound Overview.

The ability to actually talk to NotebookLM appears to be a powerful way to learn more about what you have collected in the application. But Google cautions that it’s an “experimental feature” and that “hosts may pause before responding or sometimes display inaccuracies,” so it may not be a completely polished experience to launch.

In addition to Interactive Audio Review, Google is introducing a new NotebookLM interface that organizes things into three areas: a “sources” panel for your information, a “conversation” panel for talking to an AI chatbot about sources, and a “studio” panel that lets you do things like and Audio Overview and Study Guides. I think it looks great.

Google announces a subscription to NotebookLM, too: NotebookLM Plus. The subscription will give you “five times the Audio Overview, notebooks, and resources per notebook,” let you “customize the style and tone of your notebook responses,” allow you to create shared group notebooks, and provide you with “more privacy and security,” Google says. Registration is available today for businesses, schools and universities, and organizations and business customers. It will be added to Google One AI Premium in “early 2025.”

Google is also launching “Agentspace,” a platform for customized AI agents for businesses. “Agentspace can provide conversational assistance, answer tough questions, make actionable suggestions and take action based on your company’s unique knowledge,” Google said. It also has connectors for applications such as Microsoft SharePoint, Jira, and ServiceNow.