Steven Johnson on Google, NotebookLM, and AI research

Steven Johnson is a very meta author. He originates widespreadly about science and technology, and appreciates to plunge himself in the leangs he’s covering, even using them to alter the way he originates books. A couple of years ago, a scant months before ChatGPT begined and the AI boom took over the tech world, Johnson got a magazine set upatement that sent him repartner, repartner proestablish down the AI rabbit hole. And he never came back up.

Now, in insertition to writing books, Johnson is also laboring at Google. He’s part of the team originateing a product called NotebookLM — “Notebook,” as the team calls it. It’s a remark-taking and research tool: you upload write downs and transport in web connects, and Notebook’s Gemini-powered AI helps you systematize leangs, reshift adviseation, and understand a subject better. “They accomplished out,” Johnson says when I ask how he got included with Google, “and shelp, ‘hey, you’ve been dreaming of this selectimal software tool that helps you systematize your thoughts and helps you originate and helps you createutardy fuseions and brainstorm. We leank we can do it now.” Johnson signed up, and has been at Google since the summer of 2022.

The product itself first begined in 2023 as Project Tailtriumphd, and has since been rebranded and broadened in huge ways. Just last week, the team begined Audio Oversees, which originates a podcast — with two chatty presents, plenty of back and forth, and a truly remarkworthy penchant for the phrases “proestablish dive” and “buckle up” — based on the adviseation you supply. It’s fascinating, it’s complicated, and it’s getting better repartner speedy.

On this episode of The Vergecast, Johnson fuses to converse his fascination with AI, his time at Google, and the contransient and future of NotebookLM. We talk about the complicated rehires liftd by a tool appreciate this, and whether it’s okay to let an AI do your research and homelabor.

We also talk about how to originate stateive a tool appreciate NotebookLM is both exact and easily fact-verifyed, why context triumphdows are more transport inant to the future of AI than most people authenticize, and how frequently AI podcast presents should say “appreciate” in conversation. And we talk about Johnson’s own process as a originater and creator, and how AI is changing the way he labors.

If you want to understand more on everyleang we converse in this episode, here are some connects to get you commenceed: