Steven Johnson is a multidisciplinary author. He writes frequently about science and technology, and loves to immerse himself in the subjects he covers, even using them to change the way he writes books. Two years ago, a few months before ChatGPT was released and the AI boom took the tech world by storm, Johnson wrote I got a magazine assignment. It pushed him deep into the AI rabbit hole, and he never came back.
Now, in addition to writing books, Johnson also works at Google. He is part of the team building a product called LM notebook — “Notebook,” as the team calls it. Note taking and research tool: You upload documents and import web links, and Gemini-powered AI in Notebook helps you organize things, extract information, and better understand the subject. “They reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, you’ve been dreaming of this perfect software tool that helps you organize your thoughts, helps you write, helps you formulate connections, and brainstorms. We think we can do that now,’” Johnson says when I ask him how he got involved at Google.
The product itself was first launched in 2023. As a Tailwind projectand has since been renamed and significantly expanded. Just last week, the team Audio Overview Launchedwhich produces a podcast — with chatty hosts, lots of back-and-forth, and a really noticeable penchant for “deep dives” and “buckle up” — based on the information you provide. It’s brilliant, complex, and getting better very quickly.
on This episode of The VergecastJohnson joins us to discuss his interest in AI, his time at Google, and the present and future of NotebookLM. We talk about the complex issues raised by a tool like this, and whether it’s okay to let AI do your research and homework.
We’ll also talk about how to make sure a tool like NotebookLM is accurate and easy to fact-check, why context windows are more important to the future of AI than most people realize, how often AI podcast hosts say “like” in conversation, and Johnson’s own process as a writer and creator, and how AI is changing the way he works.
If you want to learn more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to help you get started:
