Google’s “Daily Listen” experiment transforms your Discover feed into a personalized podcast
Google is adding audio capabilities to your Discover feed with a new experiment called Daily Listen. This feature aims to turn your news feed into a personalized podcast, giving you a quick and easy way to stay up to date with the latest news.
The idea of turning text into natural-sounding conversation isn’t entirely new. Google’s NotebookLM project has already explored this concept, allowing users to turn their written work into an interactive podcast. Now, Google takes this approach one step further by applying it to the Discover feed.
Daily Listen will analyze your interests based on your interactions with the Discover channel and create a short podcast summarizing the news of the day. This episode is expected to be approximately five minutes long and will provide a summary of the most important information.
Google Daily Listen Lab. | Image courtesy of Google
You’ll find Daily Listen at the top of your Discover feed, among shortcuts and personalized widgets. The interface is similar to YouTube Music’s podcast player, with controls for playing, pausing, and scrolling audio. You will also see the sources of the information presented and a text transcript that you can silently follow.
To access Daily Listen, you’ll need to enroll in an experiment through the Labs section of the Google app for Android or iOS. Once you accept, it may take a day before your first daily audition is ready. At the moment, I don’t see an opportunity to participate in this experiment in the Lab, which tells me that this may be a phased implementation. If you don’t see it either, just be patient and keep checking to see if the option appears for you.
This experiment builds on Google’s previous work in audio and artificial intelligence, such as NotebookLM, ImageFX and Viola the Bird. The existence of all of these ongoing projects reflects Google’s commitment to exploring new ways to interact with information and technology.
Personally, I’m excited about the potential of Daily Listen. For a person who loves listening to podcasts but often has trouble finding the time, this feature can be a game-changer. Being able to get a quick summary of the day’s news in audio format would be a welcome addition to my routine.
2025-01-08 22:22:22