Recently, Google has been developing new artificial intelligence-powered tools that transform writing and text materials and YouTube videos into audio or podcasts to assist researchers in their learning processes.
The company is now experimenting with a new AI-powered tool called Illuminate, which enables users to convert lengthy, dense research papers and books into concise AI-generated audio conversations. Google describes the tool as an “experimental technology that uses AI to adapt content to your learning preferences.”
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Illuminate is similar to Google’s NotebookLM, an experimental AI notebook that combines large language models with user-provided notes — such as PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, audio files, and Google Docs — to further your understanding of a topic by discussing it with you. While Illuminate also generates audio discussions, it is tailored to more technical content and limited formats.
What is Illuminate?
Illuminate uses AI to transform published papers and works into audio discussions with “two AI-generated voices in conversation” discussing the key points and takeaways of the paper. Google says, “Illuminate is currently optimized for published computer science academic papers.”
How to use Illuminate
To test the technology, I signed in with my Google account and uploaded PDF links of technology-oriented papers I’ve been reading for work. On the Illuminate website, I uploaded a PDF link for a paper called “Mind the Gap: Foundation Models and the Covert Proliferation of Military Intelligence, Surveillance, and Targeting” by Heidy Khlaaf, Sarah Myers West, and Meredith Whittaker. According to Google, “Illuminate is currently available for all web content, excluding paywalled content, sites that have opted out of AI indexing, and content flagged by our safety filters. We expect to add more ways to input content, like uploading files.”
After uploading the link, I chose to define my audio conversation as formal, but you can choose between casual, free-form, guided, or formal depending on the text you’re using.
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I pressed Generate and waited about a minute (it may take longer depending on the length of the paper and current traffic) for the 15-page paper to turn into an audio conversation. When generation was complete, I pressed the Play button to listen to the newly generated audio conversation and saved it to my library. Note that “audio conversations are deleted after 30 days unless you save them to your personal library.”
You can access your library by tapping My Library, which contains two sections–Personal and Public (publicly available generated audio conversations). You can also view the transcript of the conversations and share your audio generations with other people by tapping the Share this content icon at the bottom.
The audio conversation succinctly vocalized the major themes and takeaways contained in the paper. I was also surprised by how realistic the conversation sounded — as if I were tuning into my favorite tech podcast.
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I can see this tool being quite helpful for researchers, students, and writers who engage with lengthy research papers daily. Illuminate can be used as a research assistant tool if you have trouble grasping key points in a paper and need an extra boost to hone in on what you might have missed after reading.
Previously, users were limited to five audio generations, but now they have 19 audio generations per day.
How to access Illuminate
You can access Illuminate at illuminate.google.com, and you must have a Google account to sign in. It’s important to note that Illuminate is still in the experimental phase, and users may encounter bugs or limitations in functionality.