I’m a longtime ChatGPT Plus user who has experimented with every AI upgrade and tool OpenAI has launched in recent years. Chatting with AI has become part of my daily routine, with ChatGPT assisting in both work and personal activities. I’ve recently grown to appreciate the depth and detail in ChatGPT Deep Research reports, which I’ll be using more often within the limits of my subscription.
There is one “issue” with the Deep Research reports that OpenAI hasn’t addressed. I’m using quotes because it’s not a real problem, just something OpenAI could improve, similar to what Google is already doing with its more in-depth Gemini research reports.
The ChatGPT Deep Research reports can be long and take extra time to review. It would be much quicker if ChatGPT offered the option to turn the text into a podcast-like format, where AI hosts discuss the research topic in a more engaging, easy-to-listen-to way.
Google has already built a feature like this into NotebookLM. Its Audio Overview function transforms Gemini-generated reports into podcasts. These overviews are also available in the standalone Gemini app, which makes me want a similar feature in ChatGPT.
As I mentioned in that previous post, Google is already enhancing Audio Overviews with support for more languages. But the improvements go beyond that. Google has also announced that its NotebookLM app will soon be available on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices. You can already preorder the apps, which means registering your interest to download them for free later this month.
About a month ago, Google confirmed it was working on NotebookLM apps for iOS and Android. Now in May, the apps are listed in the App Store and on Google Play. You can’t download them yet, but they’ll likely be available during or just after Google’s I/O 2025 event this month, which will include plenty of Gemini AI announcements.
AI has been the main topic at the last two I/O events, so it’s safe to assume that won’t change this year. In fact, AI has become an even bigger focus for Google as Gemini continues to gain features and integrate with more apps.
The App Store listing shows that the app is expected to launch on May 20, which is also the first day of I/O 2025 and the date of Google’s main AI keynote.
While NotebookLM isn’t yet available for iPhone or Android, you can preview its design in the screenshots Google has provided. As shown in the images above and below, the app lets you use Gemini to generate in-depth reports on topics of your choice.
You can upload PDF files, text, websites, and YouTube clips, and then let NotebookLM create research reports on the topic you selected.
The AI can then chat with you about the generated reports and provide more details. But for me, the best feature is Audio Overview. This turns your NotebookLM reports into audio recaps, which is essentially a podcast feature unique to Google’s AI tools. This has to be one of the coolest uses of AI so far for the general public. You can create an endless string of custom podcasts that can’t be heard anywhere else.
Google’s new NotebookLM mobile apps will closely resemble the web version in terms of user experience. That includes the ability to “join” an Audio Overview podcast and ask questions by speaking instead of typing.
As I noted earlier this week, OpenAI already has the tools to build an Audio Overview feature for ChatGPT. The Advanced Voice Mode already lets users speak with the AI. While I wait, I might just download NotebookLM for iPhone once it rolls out later this month and use it for podcast-style AI reports instead of ChatGPT.
