Google is experimenting with a new feature called "Daily Listen" that uses AI to create personalized podcast-style summaries in its Discover feed. The system pulls together a roughly five-minute audio episode based on topics and stories you follow, serving it up in the carousel below the search bar in Google's mobile apps. If you're in the US and want to try it out, you can enable Daily Listen through Search Labs on either Android or iOS. Once activated, your first AI-generated episode will show up the following day.
The technology seems to share DNA with Google's NotebookLM podcast system. Like other AI tools that process text, these audio summaries make up facts, especially when trying to digest and synthesize large amounts of diverse content. It is better to treat these summaries as helpful but fallible assistants than as authoritative sources.