Quiet, the robots are talking (again)

GenFM is the newest toy from the famed AI audio platform ElevenLabs. Upload a bit of text (PDFs, articles, etc.) and generate an AI podcast in minutes.

Interest, sure, but...

We've heard this before

Probably from another AI-generated podcast about Google's NotebookLM.

Launched this October, NotebookLM does exactly the same thing: upload text, create a podcast, and listen in awe as two imaginary people lament the fact that they don't exist.

So, what's so interesting about ElevenLabs' version?

There are two interesting bits we can gather from ElevenLabs' release blog posts on this feature.

First, GenFM is released as part of their ElevenReader app. This is interesting as, unlike Google's version, it bolsters a purpose-made product. ElevenLabs seem to be creating an ecosystem of products inside their central platform; something to keep an eye on.

Second, ElevenLabs have made the interesting decision to "add 'umms' and pauses" to the AI-generated audio.

“We debated about how much to introduce ‘ums,’ ‘ahs,’ ‘mhmms’/ laughter/breathing similar human dialogue fillers or overlays — we’re aiming to strike the right balance of natural, human conversation and providing utility from the content,” Jack McDermott told TechCrunch.

Very interesting.

As we get more and more used to AI-generated content, it seems the products generating said content may have to start sprinkling some humanness (aka mistakes) into their output. Are we going full circle?