Google has announced a new artificial intelligence feature for Google Drive that will allow users to listen to audio summaries of lengthy PDF documents. The new AI-powered Audio Overviews feature is part of the Gemini for Google Workspace suite and aims to make it easier for users to consume large amounts of text in a conversational, podcast-style format.
The feature builds on the success of AI Overviews first introduced through NotebookLM last year, which allowed users to turn their written sources into interactive discussions between two AI hosts. These audio summaries became popular for making information easier to understand and more engaging. Following this success, Google expanded the technology to its Gemini ecosystem.
In its official blog post, Google stated, “This feature is powered by the same underlying technology as NotebookLM’s popular Audio Overview feature.” The AI will analyse PDF documents stored in Google Drive and generate a spoken summary that users can listen to instead of reading the entire text.
At launch, the feature is available only on the desktop version of Google Drive. When a PDF is opened, users will notice a new waveform icon in the top navigation bar. Clicking the icon prompts Gemini to create the audio summary. Once the overview is generated, users receive an email notification, and it becomes accessible on both desktop and mobile devices.
However, the feature currently comes with some limitations. It only supports the English language and can generate summaries that are between two and ten minutes long, depending on the document’s length and content. Despite being part of Google Workspace, there are no admin control options for this feature at present.
Google confirmed that Audio Overviews are now available to Workspace Business Standard and Plus subscribers, Enterprise Standard and Plus users, as well as Google AI Pro and Ultra customers. Additionally, Google AI Ultra for Business and Google AI Pro for Education users will also be able to access it.
By introducing AI-powered Audio Overviews, Google aims to make reading and learning more accessible, offering users a faster and more flexible way to process information directly from their Drive documents.
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