Jump to content

Your Ad Could Be Here

Another leap in AI - PODCASTS!


GregB

Recommended Posts

Prepare to have your socks, underwear and everything else, perhaps even your skin, blown off!!  Even the cynic in me is shocked!

 

A couple of days ago Google release a new product that leverage their own AI Chat system (Gemini 1.5).

Called NotebookLM (https://notebooklm.google/) it takes written text and generates an audio conversation/podcast.

 

It is FREE to use.

 

“Ho-hum”, I thought, “how crap is THIS going to be?”

 

I simply gave it the script I had used for my most recent Episode (copy/pasting from Word into a Google Doc in my Google account).  The scrip is HERE if you want a quick squiz ... ...  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z5gx0oMIAMPU553XB9nOTAigzbmg_FjWJF98o96kPVs/edit?usp=sharing

 

I didn’t think to time it, but it took less than 5 minutes to generate a 10-min WAV file that I could play and/or download.

 

Not only did it convert my first-person narrative to a conversation, but the conversation is VERY organic, the voices SOUND natural (albeit American-style enthusiastic) AND the spoken words are an amazingly good re-worded amalgam of what I had written.  It has kept the essence and has NOT made any mistakes regarding content, names, titles etc.

 

I’ve converted the WAV to MP3 for inclusion here. 

 

 

The WAV was mono only.

 

It would be very easy to edit this file and insert my own musical extracts.

 

The limitations are that all AI podcasts would start to SOUND the same ... sonically, accents, verbal/conversational rhythms, etc..   

 

But the concept and actualisation are just astonishing.  It certainly sound a lot more lively than my droning/stumbling monologues ... 

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dumbit/episodes/6-The-Prescient-viewed-from-the-Future-e2nd9gt

 

 

Greg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's interesting that one side of Google puts out that, and another side puts out this - https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/14328491?hl=en.

 

I just tried it on one of my scripts. Pretty amazing results. It really sounds like a radio program. The accuracy was about the same as your typical reporting too. Definitely ad libbed a bit too much, but pretty real sounding. The problem for me is that I find the whole two person radio interview thing really annoying.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The other thing I didn't mention, as it seem a bit TOO nit-picky considering the amazing result, was that the 'podcast chat' I generated was a) far too Amercian, and b) far too 'young' (i.e. vapid and overly enthusiastic).  "Amazing", "100%", "totally", "right?", "so inspiring", etc., etc..  All reasons I've stopped subscribing to a few REAL podcasts involving young songwriters/artists.
 

Instead of high-energy and exclamatory, I prefer laid-back and contemplative.  

 

But then again, as always, this is the first toe-in-the-water of AI generating 'conversations'. In just another 6 months we'll  probably be able to dial in the number of speakers, their age, sex, accent, energy level and percentile contribution.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It even adds breathing, which completely adds to the feeling of authenticity, as does talking over each other which is done at an understated level.

Impressive.

 

Much better than a lot of the voice to text AI which often screws up numbers and when to interpret letters as words or letters to be read out.

 

Not long before you can choose the characters, perspective, emotional perspectives and accents. I know some of that is there in other tools, but not to this level of realism.

 

Interesting Greg!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Purely to judge the results, I've now generated an AI version of each of my six existing podcast episodes, as well as the Trailer.  Don't forget, for the podcast I actually create a written that I record, interspersing it with relevant audio clips.

 

In each case (as this is a Google product) I copy all the text from Word into a Google Doc.  NotebookLM (https://notebooklm.google/) just requires you to select the Doc from storage.

 

On only two occasions was the perspective of the generate 2-person discussion incorrect (saying "I" rather than "he" or "Greg").  This was fixed by adding a written preface to the document and resubmitting.  All results are delivered in under 5mins. 

 

Perhaps I'm easily impressed (I'm NOT ... trust me), but in each case the results have been amazing. Especially:

  • the conversion from first person narrative to a 2-person third-part perspective
  • extensive re-wording, re-phrasing and re-ordering of my content
  • very natural 'conversation' with natural interruptions of each other
  • believable delivery ... flow, hesitation, exclamation, stress, etc.
  • apart from one ot two very minor slip-ups (and this may be due to my writing style), no errors regarding the  comprehension of the original material
  • The AI has even made a couple of jokes  where none previously existed.  E.g.:
    " ...  and time to talk about the elephant in the room ... the white elephant ... as we are talking about  [my album} "The Flat White Album"  !!!   
    It's not Christmas cracker or stand-up material, but a gut-punch revelation nonetheless. 

 

One way to use this FREE service is to quickly type up a script, submit it, then reverse engineer it via "audio-to-text".  You'll now have a different take on your script, and a chattier version, to help you move forward.

 

I may even include a part of today's trial (fully attributed) to add some fun 3rd-part commentary within my soon-to-be released podcast Episode #7 regarding Guitar and Piano, my playing experiences, and their role in my productions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

Your Ad Could Be Here



  • Current Donation Goals

    • Raised $1,040
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By continuing to use our site you indicate acceptance of our Terms Of Service: Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy: Privacy Policy, our Community Guidelines: Guidelines and our use of Cookies We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.