The Download: Google AI podcasts and protecting your brain data
The podcasting feature, which is part of NotebookLM – a research assistant powered by AI – was launched mid-September. NotebookLM is powered by Google’s Gemini 1.5 Model and allows users to upload links, videos, pdfs, or text. They can then ask the system questions about the content, and it offers short summaries.
The tool generates a podcast called Deep Dive, which features a male and a female voice discussing whatever you uploaded. The voices are breathtakingly realistic.
Yes, it’s cool–bordering on delightful, even–but it is also not immune from the problems that plague generative AI, such as hallucinations and bias. NotebookLM has been used in many different ways. A new California law protects brain data of consumers. Some say it’s not enough.
On the 28th of September, California became the second US State to recognize the importance mental privacy. The ability to measure brain activity can reveal many things about an individual. This is why it’s important that neural data be protected. Although it’s not exactly the same thing as thinking, brain data can be used to determine how we feel and think, and our innermost desires and preferences. Jessica Hamzelou is our senior biotech journalist and she has examined how California’s mental privacy law could be improved, as well as how far we have yet to go. This story comes from The Checkup – our weekly newsletter that gives you the inside scoop on everything biotech. Sign up for the weekly newsletter.
