Google Launches AI Podcasts for a Daily Listen
As first reported by 9to5Google, Google Labs’ latest experiment is an AI podcast called Daily Listen. This personalized podcast featuring two AI hosts will distill the subjects of the day that you’re interested in down to a short podcast.
The idea will be familiar to anyone who has listened to NotebookLM’s Audio Overview feature, which creates a podcast out of whatever sources of information you feed it. And this is essentially the same idea, but with your Search and Discover habits feeding the podcast.
You’ll need to opt in to the Daily Listen experiment by enabling it under Search Labs in the top-left corner of the Google app. It’s available in the US from today on both Android and iOS.
First 🚢 of 2025: Daily Listen! a personalized podcast in Google Discover based on your interests, rolling out in Search Labs for the Google App (iOS/Android) TPUs are limited so opt-in is first come first served – if you like the idea of your own personal podcast, get on it!… pic.twitter.com/BRUoDufYm5 — Simon (@tokumin) January 8, 2025
Once you have opted in, Daily Listen will appear in the carousel below the Search bar at the top of the Google app. Once clicked, the podcast will play, with a transcript helping you follow along. You’ll also find links to the stories, allowing you to explore the topics discussed more deeply.
Will We Still Need Real Podcasters in the Future?
Google’s AI podcasts are surprisingly good. And even if you can’t access the Daily Listen experiment at the moment, you can get a taste of the technology by trying NotebookLM’s Audio Overview feature.
Which begs the question: Are we even going to need real podcasters in the future? And by “real,” I mean living, breathing humans.
Right now, the technology is impressive but nowhere near refined enough to cover different genres. Essentially, all these do at the moment is absorb information and then regurgitate it in the form of a podcast. Which means there’s a lack of personality, and zero humor to speak of.
However, artificial intelligence is improving all the time, and if some personality and the ability to riff on a subject is introduced at some point in the future, then Joe Rogan and his ilk may need to watch their backs.
