Google is enlisting AI to teach you through personalized podcasts. Google’s NotebookLM introduces a new feature that will turn almost any uploaded document into a podcast, writes Washington Post. The research assistant is free of charge, and has previously made personalized summaries of books, interviews, legal briefs, and papers, or turned them into Q&A formats for easy learning.

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NotebookLM’s new podcast feature breaks down each document and presents it in a conversational tone. The reimagined text to audio has a host, guest speakers, and a short runtime — a dream for anyone short on time. But the eternal AI question remains: Is it all smoke and mirrors?

Here’s the catch: Your podcast host won’t always nail the details. AI has long had an issue with accuracy, but the infamous hallucinations aren’t the only thing to worry about. Google has admitted that the software can go off on a tangent, and that it’s not always clear where the AI is drawing its conclusions from. The tech is also prone to oversimplifying information to the point where it misses key points — WaPo reports that, once fed Meta’s privacy policy, NoteBookLM side-stepped any mention of how the company uses (or misuses) your data.

Proceed with caution: Critics warn that relying on GenAI podcasts could mean coming out the other side empty-handed. Like most AI tools, NotebookLM’s podcast feature is a creative and resourceful method to make information more easily digestible, but still isn’t polished enough to replace the real thing. It’s a better tool for understanding the gist of a subject — if you want a deeper understanding, you still need to roll up your sleeves and do the dirty work yourself.

We may be getting more Apple upgrade cycles from now on. Or less. Maybe both. Apple is moving away from the annual September product launch we’re accustomed to, and towards more organic releases, says Bloomberg.

Instead of its reliable June announcement and September release schedule, the Silicon Valley giant is letting the tech call the shots. The annual launch had benefits including a clear annual schedule to maintain employee motivation and productivity, and letting analysts and investors know when to expect a sales bump. But now that Apple has a wide range of products, upgrading every single one of them — from iPhones to iPads to Macs and Airpods — annually isn’t practical. Or necessary.

Some products can go longer without upgrades. There’s only so much mileage updates to the iPhone SE and the Apple Watch Ultra can get. Apple’s new organic approach will ensure that products are released when they’re ready rather than being updated for the sake of being updated.

No promises to be kept. The tech giant was forced by its own schedule to announce September launches of large updates and lofty upgrades, and has — many times, as recently as this year — been unable to fulfill these promises. What’s the cost of a broken promise? Some experts believe that the iPhone 16’s subpar sales are the result of the long-awaited Apple Intelligence being delayed. With a more flexible schedule, the tech titan can release their products when they’re ready on a year-round schedule, rather than operate on a rigid and unforgiving deadline.

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