Google’s NotebookLM, an AI-powered note-taking and research tool, has significantly expanded the language support for its innovative Audio Overviews feature. Previously limited to English, Audio Overviews now supports over 50 languages, making information access and comprehension easier for a global audience.
This update allows users to generate audio summaries of their research materials in a podcast-style format with AI hosts, regardless of the original language of the source material. Imagine listening to a summary of a Japanese research paper or niche English content, all in your preferred language, even if official translations aren’t available.
NotebookLM’s core functionality revolves around creating notebooks from various sources and leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs) to interact with this information. Audio Overviews acts as an advanced summarization tool, simplifying complex or lengthy content into easily digestible audio summaries.
Previously, while source material could be in any language, the generated audio was restricted to English. Now, users can seamlessly switch to Spanish, French, or any of the 50+ supported languages. This opens up a world of possibilities for consuming content without the need for translations. It combines the summarizing capabilities of the feature with multilingual support, offering a faster and more accessible way to grasp the core ideas of any document.
As NotebookLM is primarily marketed as a learning aid, this multilingual expansion presents exciting opportunities for language learners. Consuming familiar content in a target language is a proven method to improve comprehension. Similar to reading “Harry Potter” in a new language, users can now transform familiar written content into podcasts in their target language using Audio Overviews. A new “Output Language” option facilitates easy switching between languages, empowering users to create multilingual content.
While Google’s official blog post focuses on NotebookLM, it appears this expanded language support isn’t yet available for Gemini, another AI platform from Google. For those eager to explore this feature, NotebookLM is available for free, with NotebookLM Plus access granted to Google One AI Premium plan subscribers.
