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NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

simonwillison.net

471–480 of 511 posts

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#471

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course. In my case, I'm not saying that I could do with AI music in any context either. Sometimes I play music in the living room, and I pay real attention to it, obviously AI won't do there. But when I'm using the music just as a background for exercising? Then sure, why not.

So you’re basically saying filler music, elevator music, backgrouound noise or whatever names it may come under. Since there’s already so much of it out there and since AI one isn’t novel in any way, I have a hard time understanding why you’d choose AI generated one.

I don't agree with either of your premises.

Too much of it -> No, there are entire musical genres (e.g. italodance or big beat) where I have already listened to pretty much everything available, and they are not expanding anymore because they are not fashionable. It would be nice to have more songs and be surprised.

Isn't novel in any way -> This is not how it works, there are studies showing that AI can be creative. Or at the very least (since the definition of creativity can be controversial) produce output that is indistinguishable from novel, creative output, which is enough for the purpose discussed here.

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#472

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, bars and restaurants will have an endless supply of boring music, but no one is ever going to go to an AI music event.

Read it and weep: https://www.nydailynews.com/2016/05/29/thousands-of-new-york...

The music is written by human beings and the animation is done by human beings.

You just proved my point for me.

https://legacy.iftf.org/future-now/article-detail/making-mik...

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#473

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.

The prompt affects that a lot. If I input my writing and ask an LLM to “evaluate,” it will tell me how astute and intriguing my ideas are (often to the point of hyperbole). If I ask instead for it to “critique” me, I’ll get a much less complimentary response about the same content.

You don't get prompt control here, just one button.

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#474
post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because that's not how it works.

Yes it is. How else are they "trained?"

Your comment implies that there is an existing piece of music, which can subsitute the generated music. While subsitutability varies from person to person, your original statement implies for me that each generated music has an accompanying original music that you can listen to instead (of which it was "stolen" from), since it is similar enough. I think we both know that that is not the case.

I know that you likely intended to imply that you can subsitute the aformentioned AI music with an existing piece of music of the same genre, but that is not a view shared by all. Sometimes the generated music scratches such a specific and personal itch, that it cannot be replicated by something in the same genre.

A better counterargument to your original comment would be "It is not an exclusive situation. I can listen to and support both generated music and handcrafted music at the same time. They both contain music tracks that I like."

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#475
post #212

Here is a list of adverb/adjectives from that page: "surprisingly, astonishingly, deep dive (s/delve/dive/), effectively, honestly, actually, realistically, finally". What is actually happening: endless yapping. Both in podcasts and this article. - "Hold up. What if I say that sky is not blue?" - "Whoa, I did not even think about it. " - "Wait, so if the sky isn't blue, what color is it then?" - "Maybe... it's invisi…

I bet the comment above was produced by generative AI.

Only the dialog about "sky is not blue" - yes, I generated it (formatted manually). Don't blame me, I can't stand that style.

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lex Fridman gets the best guests and asks the worst questions. I’d love to be able to tune up the technical level of those interviews…

He improved a lot in my opinion. Most episodes are much better now and I appreciate the great guests and lengthy episodes (not that I have time to listen to a 3 hour episode, I usually listen in bed). I don't expect him to ask very technical questions. It's not that kind of a podcast and he will lose a lot of listeners if it becomes too technical.

He’s doing one of those launder shitty people’s reputations by giving them mostly softball interviews like Joe Rogan. It’s trading reputation for cash.

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#477

I actually find this alternative Google pdf-to-podcast service much better — it is less sensationalist and goes into more technical depth: https://illuminate.google.com/home?pli=1 Currently only handles arxiv PDFs.

I didn't know about this, thanks! I just tried one; to my ears it is much less engaging vocally. I like the extra detail though. I'd probably personally prefer to tune NotebookLM's technicality of audience if I could. I'd also like different speakers - I wouldn't be surprised if we all will recognize the NotebookLM speakers instantly in a year or so.

The illuminate app now lets you tweak the target audience, style and length of the podcast

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#478
post #467

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It'd be like the ancient Romans speculating that cars will make us less fit and therefore cities will be less impressive because we can't lift as much. That isn't at all how it played out Isn’t this exactly how it played out?

No, obviously not. Modern construction is leagues outside what the Romans could ever hope to achieve. Something like the Burj Khalifa would be the subject of myth and legend to them. We move orders of magnitude more cargo and material than them because fitness isn't the limiting factor on how much work gets done. They didn't understand that having humans doing all that labour is a mistake and the correct approach is…

I don't know, Dubai is...bigger, but I'd say it's vastly more mediocre city than Rome. To your original point, making things easier to make probably does exert downward pressure on quality in the aesthetic/artistic sense. Dubai might have taller buildings and better sewage system[0], but it will never have the soul of a place like Rome.

[0] Given the floods I saw recently, I'm not even sure this is even true.

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#479
post #452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cable news viewership has been rapidly dwindling.

Has it really though? https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/cable-news...

According to that article, for everyone except Fox. And even they are way down relative to 2020.

(I suppose you could also quibble with "rapidly".)

Re: NotebookLM's automatically generated podcasts are surprisingly effective

#480
post #250

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…

LLMs are already better than books for exploring some ideas. But in conversation form. Until we get better versions of o1 that can generate insights over days and then communicate them in book form the loss of interactivity and personalisation makes LLM books pointless.

An interactive conversation / tutorial session beats a book pretty much all of the time. Nonfiction books contain a lot of information that's redundant to a reader familiar with the topic, and not enough for someone new. They don't backtrack if you clearly missed an important point. And so on. It's like fractal geometry.
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