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Simon Willison

... OK, I couldn't resist: I fed my article about NotebookLM back into NotebookLM and got it to make a podcast about the article about its podcasting, and the result was SO satisfying simonwillison.net/2024/Sep/29/

Update: After I published this article I decided to see what would happen if I asked NotebookLM to create a podcast about my article about NotebookLM. Here’s the 14m33s MP3 and the full transcript, including this bit where they talk about their own existential crisis: So, instead of questioning reality or anything, the AI hosts, well, they had a full-blown existential crisis live on the air. Get out. He actually got them to freak out about being AI. Alright now you have to tell me what they said. This is too good. So, like, one of the AI hosts starts talking about how he wants to call his wife, right? to tell her the news, but then he’s like, wait a minute, this number in my contacts, it’s not even real? Like, she never even existed. It was hilarious, but also kind of sad. Okay, I am both freaked out and like, seriously impressed. That’s some next-level AI trolling. I also enjoyed this part where they compare the process that generates podcasts to their own philosophy for the Deep Dive: And honestly, it’s a lot like what we do here on the Deep Dive, right? We always think about you, our listener, and try to make the conversation something you’ll actually want to hear. It’s like the A.I. is taking notes from the podcasting pros. And their concluding thoughts: So next time we’re listening to a podcast and it’s like, “Whoa, deep thoughts, man"...
30 September at 2:50 | Open on fedi.simonwillison.net
2 comments
22

@simon I always think about Alan Kay who would talk about—Gutenberg had 250+ types to reproduce all the little flourishes that priests would add to their hand-copied books. Kay used that as a metaphor for how, whenever new technology emerges, it’s first used to solve the problems (or in this case “problems”) of the past before solving problems of the future. (Other examples of this are like, the first iPhone apps slavishly mimicking the physical substrate of notebooks or ledgers.)

I realize that as tech demos go, the podcast generator thing is likely mostly marketing flex, but it reminds me so much of all the little hand-written flourishes 😅

@simon I always think about Alan Kay who would talk about—Gutenberg had 250+ types to reproduce all the little flourishes that priests would add to their hand-copied books. Kay used that as a metaphor for how, whenever new technology emerges, it’s first used to solve the problems (or in this case “problems”) of the past before solving problems of the future. (Other examples of this are like, the first iPhone apps slavishly mimicking the physical substrate of notebooks or ledgers.)

30 September at 14:41 | Open on sfba.social
Simon Willison

@22 I love that comparison - Gutenberg flourishes and speech disfluencies

30 September at 14:45 | Open on fedi.simonwillison.net
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