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NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

simonwillison.net

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Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#411

Post by CaptainFever »

devb wrote: post #282
Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't read an AI-generated book (except maybe once as a curiosity), but I would definitely listen to AI-generated music if it were good enough. Reading a book is a time investment so I want it to convey the thoughts of another human being, otherwise it would feel like wasting my time. Listening to music, on the other hand, often is something that I do while I exercise, to keep a brisk pace and not get bored. As…

> I would definitely listen to AI-generated music if it were good enough Why not just seek out the original works that the AI stole from?

Because that's not how it works.

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#412

Post by arminiusreturns »

famahar wrote: post #105

I uploaded my detailed game design document for a project I've been working on in my free time and it was kind of a weird confidence boost. The two hosts seem to treat ideas like their the most insightful relevatory information they've ever heard. After a few uploads of other documents you start to notice the same overly surprised tone.

I was suprised at how effective the positivity was on me when I fed it one of my design docs! Color me impressed at the naturalness of the resulting "conversation".

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#413

Post by CaptainFever »

hmottestad wrote: post #231
kolinko wrote: post #214

The podcast about the comments in this thread :) https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/7973d9a3-87a1-4d88-98...

I loved when they said they were going to play a snippet from a generated podcast and then some robotic male voice says something like "Insert audio snippet here".

Note that this was at the 1min mark.

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#414

Post by CaptainFever »

kristopolous wrote: post #161

I just gave it straight up erotica from an old Usenet post. The results are hilarious. I also tried the Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy. It was actually well done. https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/1d13e76e-eb4b-48ef-89... Also just uploading msdos 1.25 asm https://github.com/microsoft/MS-DOS/tree/main/v1.25/source It was way better than I though I think the best is the self referential. This actual comment thread…

I was surprised that NotebookLM not only allows erotica (for now), the AI hosts approached the topic appropriately and didn't shy away from it, while remaining professional.

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#415

Post by joelanman »

sodality2 wrote: post #341
redleggedfrog wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd go even further than "hold no value" and say it's actively detrimental on both the individual and society. We already have an avalanche of dehumanizing technology that isolates and placates us. We see the results of this with problems in mental health and socialization. This is a downward spiral as AI content will likely appeal to those who lack social skills as they don't have to cope with tricky vagaries of oth…

Even more catastrophizing. Do you get upset when you read the abstract from an academic paper? Or when you listen to a real podcast that does summarize a difficult topic in easier/shallower terms? Is it the fact that an AI summarized it the problem? Can you point to a real harm here, or will you just hand-wave, instead of seeing the reality of making information more available being a net positive?

a few real harms:

- massively inefficient use of energy, water and other resources at a time we really need to address climate crisis

- ai 'slop' with myriad mistakes and biases performing a mass DDOS on people trying to learn things and know what's true

- moving resources away from actually producing factual and original content

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#416

Post by sodality2 »

joelanman wrote: post #415
sodality2 wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even more catastrophizing. Do you get upset when you read the abstract from an academic paper? Or when you listen to a real podcast that does summarize a difficult topic in easier/shallower terms? Is it the fact that an AI summarized it the problem? Can you point to a real harm here, or will you just hand-wave, instead of seeing the reality of making information more available being a net positive?

a few real harms: - massively inefficient use of energy, water and other resources at a time we really need to address climate crisis - ai 'slop' with myriad mistakes and biases performing a mass DDOS on people trying to learn things and know what's true - moving resources away from actually producing factual and original content

Thank you, these are mostly extremely valid complaints. I hope with time these come to be inefficiencies that can be moved past (AI models turn into local-first energy efficient tools, becomes more intelligent at summarization). Right now though, wholeheartedly agree.

The last one seems to be irrelevant for this specific use case - the content is produced, it's put into an easier to digest format. No one thought sparknotes would kill books.

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#417

Post by [deleted] »

vietjtnguyen wrote: post #403

One of my favorite ChatGPT uses is voice chat during long drives as a pseudo, albeit interactive, podcast to learn about various technical topics at the edge of my knowledge base. This podcast generation is pretty amazing, but hopefully they make the "competency level" of the hosts tunable. One thing I love is being able to guide ChatGPT to the technical level I'm looking for. Maybe I'm just bad at finding podcasts,…

[deleted]

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#418

Post by omegaworks »

quest88 wrote: post #406
chefandy wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But I also think the people that want to pay for art will continue to pay as their motives and values are different. The big difference is the type of artist. People selling fine art won't be affected much. The vast majority of artists are commercial artists, the the idea that being a commercial artist is morally or creatively bankrupt— a common sentiment among those who want to imagine that this is all just fine—…

I haven't seen that idea (artists being morally bankrupt), like you I'd strongly disagree. I also agree it's a shitty situation that artists invested hundreds of hours of their own time to create something only to be repackaged and sold by some AI tool. That said, I'd still make the same point that people who value art and the artist will buy from and support the artist. Those that don't value it, won't. But now we'r…

>That said, I'd still make the same point that people who value art and the artist will buy from and support the artist.

The chances anyone will come across the artist when their marketplace is flooded with increasingly plausible simulacra become more and more slim as time goes on.

AI is choking off any hope for artists supported by patronage, simply by virtue of discoverability being lost and trust being eroded.

>But now we're on a larger scale.

It's simply a bad problem, made worse!

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#419

Post by orangecat »

low_tech_love wrote: post #297
rafram wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The one and only point listening to a discussion about anything is that at least one of the speakers is someone who has an opinion that you may find interesting or refutable. No. Maybe that's true for you , but people enjoy learning in different ways, and some people learn best by listening to a discussion.

Assuming you are one of them, I’m curious about one thing (honest question, not meant to disrespect): does it not bother you at all to know that those voices do not belong to any human being? When I listen to a semi-adolescent girl’s voice explaining something with a lot of “like”s and an informal tone, the fact that I know this was AI-generated makes me feel disgusted in my stomach (I am serious, this is not suppose…

Fascinating. I don't have that reaction at all, but if it's common it could account for some of the variation in people's perceptions of AI.

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#420

Post by joelanman »

sodality2 wrote: post #416
joelanman wrote: post #415

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a few real harms: - massively inefficient use of energy, water and other resources at a time we really need to address climate crisis - ai 'slop' with myriad mistakes and biases performing a mass DDOS on people trying to learn things and know what's true - moving resources away from actually producing factual and original content

Thank you, these are mostly extremely valid complaints. I hope with time these come to be inefficiencies that can be moved past (AI models turn into local-first energy efficient tools, becomes more intelligent at summarization). Right now though, wholeheartedly agree. The last one seems to be irrelevant for this specific use case - the content is produced, it's put into an easier to digest format. No one thought spar…

I was referring to real podcasts
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