Theshift away from Google Assistant , and into the Gemini era , is nearly in its last stages . One can palpate nostalgic about the eponymic virtual assistant , but it ’s undeniable that the comer of Gemini has in truth changed what an AI factor can do for us .
Thelanguage understanding chops are far better with Gemini . Conversations are instinctive , app interactions are fluid , consolidation with other Google product is rewarding , and even in its freestate , Gemini takes Siritothe cleaner even on an iPhone .
There are , however , a few tricks that put Gemini in an all dissimilar league . Deep Research is one of those agentic featuresthat I use on a daily cornerstone and uphold to be amazed at . In March , Google added another rewarding characteristic to the Gemini arsenal : Audio Overviews .
Turning it all, into a podcast
Imagine wrick your drear documents , overtly complex research paper , or academic reading material cloth into a full of life two - way podcast Old World chat . That ’s essentially what Audio Overviews is all about . The feature first go far on Google ’s profoundly underrated NotebookLM , and has finally been ported over to the core Gemini experience on mobile and World Wide Web .
You do n’t have to go through any technical hoops , or write a hyper - specific schoolbook command prompt to get these audio makeovers . Just upload a filing cabinet from the attachment selector , and you will see a “ Generate Audio Overview ” micro chip appear mighty above the chat boxful . hydrant on it , and the podcast generation will commence .
It may take a few minutes to complete , but in the meanwhile , you could safely switch to another app ( or windowpane ) . Once the process is over , you will get a notification about the podcast being ready for your listening delight , or sharing with other people .
The audio overview is typically a two - person , free - flowing chat in an eerily natural tone . It almost feels as if you are confabulate with Gemini Live , which itself feels dramatically more natural than any AI chatbot I ’ve used so far in representative conversation mode .
These AI - generated podcasts are generally jolly well - made , I ’d say . But I gravitate towards them for a couplet of reasons . First , I gaze at a projection screen , learn article for research , and write my own stuff , pretty much the entire day .
That leaves petty room for engaging with any further text - based cloth , be it academic , work - come to , or even recreational . However , if I could just change the sensory mode to engage with that material , my meter reading tiredness takes a backseat .
audio frequency podcasts offer a whole new way of engaging with text - based cloth in a more immersive fashion . That brings us to the second advantage , which is sensational stimulation , or variation . This normal has been well - documented and experimented with , in the sphere of academe and professional coaching job .
How it helped me?
The textbook fatigue require its own toll . It stimulate even exciting work seem like a chore that you require to get retiring , just because you ca n’t afford to drop it . However , engaging with the same oeuvre , or its essence , through a different sensory media suppresses that fear of overcharge on more school text - free-base stuff . It in reality helps in a few other elbow room .
“ Engaging multiple sense strengthens retentivity . When we heed and interact — whether through reading , writing , or doing — the nous builds stronger connections , making it soft to recall later , ” says Yasir Naseem , a linguistics expert whose research work has focalize on the modernization and gamification of teaching methodology .
Naseem , who is currently a curriculum expert at a contribute ed - tech business firm , narrate me that you ca n’t solely rely on a single culture medium for learning . Instead , he tells me , you need to combine different methods for maximal benefit , swan from sentimental effect to memory holding .
Research published inComputers & Educationjournal also highlighted how students found audio files to be the higher-ranking learning and revise material . flexibleness , and sensory versatility , play a major role in their penchant for podcasts over other medium .
“ True intellect and long - full term retention pass off when listening is paired with visuals , discussion , or hands - on activity , ” Naseem adds . My own experiences with Gemini ’s audio overviews echo his advice . I have a stronger recall of the knowledge I absorbed via the audio podcasts compare to reading the same material .
You see , these audio podcasts are not a simple text - to - sound recording spiritual rebirth . Instead , they break down an otherwise boring wall of text into a two - mortal conversation that you are fundamentally the solitary audience to . It ’s a boon for any text - based material that does n’t instantly spark your curiosity and goads you into an instantaneous reading .
In my most late experiment , Gemini ’s audio podcast helped me understand the import of a newspaper publisher discussing“a framework for interpretable neural learnedness based on local selective information - theoretical goal routine . ” In simpler terms , the research hash out how face jail cell organize themselves .
You get the point I ’m endeavor to make here , right ?
Convenience, above all
comfort station plays an important part when it get to absorbing information . And so does exuberance and excitement about the whole process . As per a paper published in theComputers in Human Behaviorjournal , podcast “ enhance convenience , flexibility and accessibility to selective information and noesis . ” It did n’t take me long to earn that .
live in the national capital , spending anywhere between 2 - 3 hours stuck in a traffic or public commute is a casual reality for me . But more than the uncomfortableness of it all , it ’s the wasted time that ache the most . Audio learning textile provide the most commodious way to utilize that prison term in a productive manner .
With Gemini , you have another essential welfare . You do n’t have to rely on the audio availableness of a certain book , news program article , or donnish fabric . you could just download whatever fabric is at your disposal , and Gemini will wrick it into a podcast - style conversation .
There is spate of multi - disciplinary research out that supports the welfare of an sound recording - based approach to learn . And it ’s not entirely about mind , but more about breaking things down and presenting them in a more accessible fashion .
“ A couple of folks have suppose … they like the fact we ’re giving them some stuff they ’re not reading in the newsprint . They like the fact … we ’re test to introduce ourselves in a different mode , ” say a research composition cite a news program editor . The report , good manners of Syracuse University , was write in 2006 during the very early day of the podcast trend .
As of 2025 , podcasts have become a veritable phenomenon for consuming information , from educational material to amusement stuff . According to thePew Research Center , nearly one-half of Americans have engage with podcasts . Over half of the surveyed audience listened to podcasts for learning , for entertainment , or to have some audio material while doing something else .
Nearly a third wanted to hear other citizenry ’s view , and another equally big section was hooked up so that they could keep an eye on news and current result . My engagement did n’t precipitate too far away from the aforementioned pattern . For long - shape journalism chronicle or investigative work , I often found their podcast interlingual rendition more pleasing .
More effective, too
Interestingly , podcasts appeared to drive pragmatic change , as well . Roughly two - one-third of the listeners pursue with a Good Book or film after hearing a podcast , more than one-half of the audience started watch over a individual on societal medium , and a third of them made lifestyle changes such as taking up exercise or changing their diet .
Research published in theJournal of Social Media Marketinghighlighted conception such as media substitution and useable similarity in the context of listening to media and the audience ’s willingness . The overarching idea is that user evaluate the spiritualist and pluck the one that suits them the most .
“ For the uniqueness of podcast cognitive content , the influence on heed willingness and medium substitution is positive , suggesting that unique contents , high quality and encompassing diverseness make the great unwashed want to heed podcasts , ” says the paper . I can in person bear witness to this finding , as well .
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— Nadeemonics ( @nsnadeemsarwar)March 30 , 2025
Over the preceding few days , I have “ podcast - ified ” legion research papers discussing the impact of character , meat , and package food consumption on eternal sleep patterns , cognitive health , and bowel health . compare to the overtly technical tone of scientific written document , having two hosts wear out down the finding with a “ sentimental ” and “ persuasive ” tone had a discernibly deep effect on me .
Think of it as learning about social etiquettes or ethnic sensitivities in a book . And long time later , visit them in action at law with your own eyes . Or , suppose about hear a foreign language from a book , all on your own , and the departure it fix when you hear it from a soul filling all that noesis into your ears .
The latter approach reaps better results . And that ’s primarily because the compound impression of multi - sensory engagement speeds up the learning process , or just makes it more effective . Gemini ’s Audio Overviews have create a interchangeable effect , and they ’ve helped me a lot .
A few snags
As productive as it all vocalize , Gemini ’s audio overviews are not . They can debilitate the unfeigned essence of a tastefully - written story in its “ podcasti - fication ” exertion , or miss out on a few pocket-sized detail . There are a couple of useable oddment , too . The length of the audio overview , which directly corresponds to the depth of the source fabric , can be quite random .
For lesson , when I fed it a 260 - page record book on the topic of conjugations and morphology of verbs in the Iranian voice communication , the audio overview generated by Gemini was just over seven minute in duration . Qualitatively , it covered the most crucial parts , but escape out on the finer detail .
In another vitrine , I turned a Deep Research written document deserving four pages into an audio podcast . The continuance for this one was about 13 - minutes . regrettably , Gemini ’s automatic task chip wo n’t let you conform the length , or conversational profundity of the audio overview .
If you are using Google NotebookLM , which is where the audio overview feature first appeared , you may write a command prompt that can dictate how deep the podcast conversation goes . I generated an audio podcast with a 59 runtime on NotebookLM a few hebdomad ago .
Gemini wo n’t permit you do that . Not yet .
Then , we have the language barrier , as Google is presently in the process of fine - tuning the whole pipeline beyond English . Another problem was the Anglicized pronunciation . For example , the AI podcast host misspeak the Persian humans “ Raf - thin ” as “ Raaf - atomic number 50 . ”
To an untrained ear not familiar with bilingual subtlety of English - Persian rendering , or how accents alter the auditory perception of words in a dissimilar language , the AI podcast host could very well be ptyalise total gibberish .
The sum total of my experience is that Gemini Audio Overviews are n’t a gyration . They just proffer a different , and more absorbing medium , to engage with subject . It does n’t work all the time , but it certainly takes from the tedium of reading through Thomas Nelson Page of text that would otherwise put you to sleep .
