Google's New ‘Illuminate' App Can Turn a Book Into a Podcast

Illuminate transforms research papers or books into AI-generated audio summaries that eerily sound like real humans.

---

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we could turn a long and brain-draining research paper into an approachable, podcast-style conversation that explains the paper?

It would be incredibly cool and helpful.

Well, that’s exactly what Google has done with its latest experimental tool called Illuminate. It transforms research papers into AI-generated audio summaries that sound just like real conversations.

Although Illuminate is currently optimized for published computer science academic papers, it works on books too!

For example, Illuminate can turn the book Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, which has 206,052 words, into a 6-minute podcast.

Here’s what you need to know about the podcasts:

• Two speakers: There will be two people (a host and a guest) talking in the audio result.

• Concise length: The podcast result is usually around 4–7 minutes in length.

• Realistic voices: Their voices sound eerily like real people. You’ll hear giggles, pauses, and little nuances in the host’s and guest’s voices.

Here’s a sample transcript of the podcast about Moby Dick:

Host: Let’s discuss this book titled “Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale”. Can you tell us about this work?

Guest: “Moby-Dick; Or, The Whale” is a classic American novel published in 1851 by Herman Melville. It’s a sprawling, epic tale that delves into the world of 19th-century whaling, but it’s also much more than that. It’s a philosophical exploration of obsession, revenge, and the human relationship with nature.

Host: Can you elaborate on the main themes of obsession and revenge in the book?

Guest: The story revolves around Captain Ahab, the enigmatic and vengeful captain of the whaling ship Pequod. Ahab is consumed by his obsession with Moby Dick, a massive white whale that took his leg on a previous voyage. This obsession drives the entire narrative, as Ahab leads his crew on a perilous quest to hunt down and kill the whale.

Image by Jim Clyde Monge

When I first heard one of these AI-generated podcasts, I was amazed at how natural the conversation sounded. It felt like listening to a real interview on a radio show.

How to Access Google Illuminate?