Google’s NotebookLM adds video overviews with AI-generated slideshows

Google’s NotebookLM has launched Video Overviews, a new AI feature that creates narrated slideshows from users’ saved documents. The addition gives users a visual alternative to the platform’s existing Audio Overviews, helping make complex information more accessible through AI-generated visuals combined with content from uploaded materials.

What you should know: Video Overviews transforms documents into visual presentations with AI-generated narration and graphics.

• The AI host creates new visuals to illustrate key points while incorporating images, diagrams, quotes, and numbers directly from user documents.
• Google describes the feature as “uniquely effective for explaining data, demonstrating processes and making abstract concepts more tangible.”
• The feature is currently rolling out in English, with support for additional languages coming soon.

How it works: Video Overviews include practical playback controls for enhanced user experience.

• Users can skip back and forth by 10-second intervals and adjust playback speed according to their learning preferences.
• Google plans to introduce “additional formats” for the feature in the future, though specific details weren’t provided.

Studio tab improvements: NotebookLM’s content generation hub is receiving significant upgrades alongside the video feature launch.

• Users can now “create and store multiple studio outputs of the same type in a single notebook,” allowing multiple Audio Overviews to reference the same source material.
• The interface is getting a visual refresh with four prominent tiles for creating Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, Mind Maps, and Reports.
• These Studio tab changes will roll out “over the next few weeks” to all NotebookLM users.

Why this matters: The video feature addresses the growing demand for multimodal AI tools that can process and present information in various formats, making NotebookLM more competitive against other AI-powered learning and productivity platforms.