Google Launches 'Illuminate' that Turns Books and Papers Into Podcasts

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we could turn a long and brain-draining research paper into an approachable, podcast-style conversation that explains the paper?

It would be incredibly cool and helpful.

Well, that’s exactly what Google has done with its latest experimental tool called Illuminate. It transforms research papers into AI-generated audio summaries that sound just like real conversations.

Although Illuminate is currently optimized for published computer science academic papers, it works on books too!

For example, Illuminate can turn the book Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, which has 206,052 words, into a 6-minute podcast.

Here’s what you need to know about the podcasts:

• Two speakers: There will be two people (a host and a guest) talking in the audio result.
• Concise length: The podcast result is usually around 4–7 minutes in length.
• Realistic voices: Their voices sound eerily like real people. You’ll hear giggles, pauses, and little nuances in the host’s and guest’s voices.

Here’s a sample transcript of the podcast about Moby Dick:

Host: Let’s discuss this book titled “Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale”. Can you tell us about this work?

Guest: “Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale” is a classic American novel published in 1851 by Herman Melville. It’s a sprawling, epic tale that delves into the world of 19th-century whaling, but it’s also much more than that. It’s a philosophical exploration of obsession, revenge, and the human relationship with nature.

Host: Can you elaborate on the main themes of obsession and revenge in the book?

Guest: The story revolves around Captain Ahab, the enigmatic and vengeful captain of the whaling ship Pequod. Ahab is consumed by his obsession with Moby Dick, a massive white whale that took his leg on a previous voyage. This obsession drives the entire narrative, as Ahab leads his crew on a perilous quest to hunt down and kill the whale.

When I first heard one of these AI-generated podcasts, I was amazed at how natural the conversation sounded. It felt like listening to a real interview on a radio show.

How to Access Google Illuminate?

You can access Google Illuminate from this link: illuminate.google.com

Log in with your Google account. Here’s what the dashboard looks like:

Illuminate is not an official product yet. It’s an experimental tool that Google wants to be utilized for learning, especially on computer science topics.

When you try to access Illuminate, you’ll see a disclaimer like this:

Illuminate is an experimental technology that uses AI to adapt content to your learning preferences.

This experimental tool is dedicated to fostering learning. It is currently optimized for computer science topics. All discussions and voices are AI-generated.

Once you’re in, you won’t immediately get access. Google is rolling out the feature on a waitlist basis. Click on the “Join Waitlist” button and wait for approval from Google.

While waiting, the best thing you can do is explore various examples.

In my case, it only took a day to get access to Illuminate. I was surprised by how quickly they responded, which made me even more eager to try out the tool.

Getting Started with Illuminate

Once you’re off the waitlist, you should have access to the create page.

Paste the URL of a paper you want Illuminate to use. You can add multiple papers on the list if you want. When your list is ready, press the Generate button.

Depending on traffic and length of the selected papers, audio generation may take a few minutes or longer.

Note: In case you close the tab or lose connectivity during audio generation, the process will continue, and you can return to the generated audio conversation when you reload Illuminate.

When generation has completed, you can press the play button to listen to the newly generated audio conversation. Click on the save button to save the generated audio conversation to your personal library.

If you don’t save the audio file to your library, it will be deleted after 30 days. You can view all your saved files on the library page.

Asking Further Questions

The experience with Illuminate tool doesn’t end in generating AI-podcasts. You can also ask questions by clicking on the little hand icon above the play button.

This will bring up a modal Q&A window where you can ask questions about the book and the paper you uploaded.

And guess what? You can also let Illuminate read the answers aloud by clicking on the speaker button on the right side.

Awesome! The quality of the audio is also really good.

Hyperrealistic Podcasts

The first thing that you’ll notice is how realistic the voices are.

The two people talking sometimes even buckle or take a deep breath, which makes them sound so human. I can’t show you an example of the audio in this article, but here’s a sample transcript:

Host: Let’s unpack a paper titled “Generative Ghosts: Anticipating Benefits and Risks of AI Afterlives.” What’s the core idea here?

Guest: Oh, wow. This is a relevant paper, really gets you thinking. It’s about this totally new concept called generative ghosts. Imagine an AI, like a super smart chatbot, but it’s designed to represent someone who has passed away. It’s not just repeating old recordings or stuff. It’s actually generating new content, new conversations, all based on the person’s data. It’s like a digital afterlife, man.

Host: That’s pretty wild. This sounds like science fiction. Is this even possible with current technology?

Guest: It’s closer than you might think. This paper, published on May 8th, 2024, talks about how the recent advancements in AI, especially in language models like GPT-4 and those awesome image and video generators, have made this stuff way more feasible. Remember seeing those deep fakes? This is like that, but way more interactive and personalized.

Host: Okay, I’m starting to see the potential here, but why would someone want to create a generative ghost? What’s the benefit?

You can also chain a number of references together and get a podcast-style stream that you could listen to while commuting or doing other tasks.

What’s the Point of Illuminate?

Google Illuminate is an impressive tool in terms of the technology it brings to the table, turning dense research papers and books into conversational, podcast-like audio summaries.

But what’s the point of it, really?

Illuminate is designed for people who either don’t have the time or simply don’t want to trudge through long academic texts.

For students, this tool can be super helpful, allowing them to quickly digest key points of academic papers while multitasking, whether they’re commuting or exercising.

How I wish we had this tech back when I was still in college.

It’s also a convenient way for professionals to stay updated on research without having to sit down and read everything themselves.

However, the underlying issue here is whether we’re encouraging people to read less.

Sure, it’s convenient, but reducing complex, nuanced papers into bite-sized audio summaries can risk oversimplifying important details, particularly for those who rely on these summaries to make decisions in their fields.

People might end up consuming just the surface of complex topics, which is risky for anyone needing a thorough understanding of the material.

But of course, it’s unlikely that everyone who enjoys reading books or research papers will switch to listening to these summaries before purchasing or studying deeply.

Many still appreciate the depth and context of reading the original material.

In essence, while the realism and quality of the audio generated by Illuminate are indeed cool, the broader use case might be limited to those who prefer quick knowledge consumption or are simply pressed for time.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I am very impressed with Google’s Illuminate tool. It’s still in the experimental phase, but the number of possible use cases is already huge. Will this be powerful enough to disrupt the current podcast industry? Time will tell.

In terms of voice quality, Google’s NotebookLM and Illuminate are by far the most realistic in the market. The first time I tried and heard the giggles, pauses, and little nuances in the host’s voices, I was blown away. It is way better than what you’d get from other tools like Eleven Labs.

I’ve experimented with various AI voice generation tools before, but none have come close to the naturalness of Illuminate. It raises the bar for what we can expect from AI-generated audio, and I’m excited to see how this technology evolves.

The younger generation are very lucky to have these kinds of tools at their disposal. This will help them learn things faster in a format that’s actually more enjoyable to consume.

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