Google’s AI Podcasts Signal a New Era in Media

“In September, Google unveiled a new feature in its artificial intelligence (AI) writing platform, NotebookLM, that caused a stir in the tech press and the wider culture: the ability to take a document you upload and generate a podcast about it that sounds strikingly real and engaging.”

Robert Diab takes a look at this new feature, writing that although it is currently “little more than a source of fun and amusement,” beneath the surface, we can catch “glimpses of the next stage in the evolution of digital media — one that will extend the social and political effects, both good and bad, of the demise of broadcast media.”

“One of the frustrating experiences of watching the obsession with generative AI has been the myopia of it. Now seems like a suitable moment to remember that there are other technologies, even AI-related technologies, that can have a major economic impact.”

In this opinion, Mardi Witzel sees the cooling enthusiasm around generative AI as a renewed opportunity for more mature technologies such as machine learning. “Having spent the last two years firmly in the shadow of its flashier cousin, machine learning may seem a bit old and dull. But that would be selling it short. It could be argued that machine learning remains the more impactful, more understood and safer form of AI.”

Dec. 5 – 11:00 a.m. EST (UTC–05:00): Canadian businesses face growing questions about how to ensure the responsible commercialization and use of emerging technologies that are now key drivers of success across all industries.

Join co-hosts Global Affairs Canada and CIGI for a virtual discussion next month that will consider these questions. Moderators Ryerson Neal and Tracey Forrest and speakers Rashad Abelson, Pratt Sureka and Paul Vallée will explore expectations of business for responsible conduct and due diligence in relation to the development and deployment of emerging technologies, among other topics.

Find out more and register here.

“In the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory in the November 5 vote, many Canadians are unsettled and uncertain about what the future holds.…From a Canadian governing perspective, however, there’s little to be gained from hand-wringing.”

In this opinion, a version of which first appeared on Substack, Michael Den Tandt writes that there are threads of hope in knowing that we’ve been here before; what’s important now is to “finally begin to behave like a fully sovereign middle power with precious assets of its own to protect, rather than like an understudy.”