Steven
Johnson
is
a
very
meta
author.
He
writes
frequently
about
science
and
technology,
and
likes
to
immerse
himself
in
the
things
he’s
covering,
even
using
them
to
change
the
way
he
writes
books.
A
couple
of
years
ago,
a
few
months
before
ChatGPT
launched
and
the
AI
boom
took
over
the
tech
world,
Johnson
got
a
magazine
assignment
that
sent
him
really,
really
deep
down
the
AI
rabbit
hole.
And
he
never
came
back
up.
Now,
in
addition
to
writing
books,
Johnson
is
also
working
at
Google.
He’s
part
of
the
team
building
a
product
called
NotebookLM
— “Notebook,”
as
the
team
calls
it.
It’s
a
note-taking
and
research
tool:
you
upload
documents
and
import
web
links,
and
Notebook’s
Gemini-powered
AI
helps
you
organize
things,
extract
information,
and
understand
a
subject
better.
“They
reached
out,”
Johnson
says
when
I
ask
how
he
got
involved
with
Google,
“and
said,
‘hey,
you’ve
been
dreaming
of
this
ideal
software
tool
that
helps
you
organize
your
thoughts
and
helps
you
write
and
helps
you
formulate
connections
and
brainstorm.
We
think
we
can
do
it
now.”
Johnson
signed
up,
and
has
been
at
Google
since
the
summer
of
2022.
The
product
itself
first
launched
in
2023
as
Project
Tailwind,
and
has
since
been
rebranded
and
expanded
in
big
ways.
Just
last
week,
the
team
launched
Audio
Overviews,
which
generates
a
podcast
— with
two
chatty
hosts,
plenty
of
back
and
forth,
and
a
truly
remarkable
penchant
for
the
phrases
“deep
dive”
and
“buckle
up”
— based
on
the
information
you
provide.
It’s
fascinating,
it’s
complicated,
and
it’s
getting
better
really
fast.
On
this
episode
of
The
Vergecast,
Johnson
joins
to
discuss
his
fascination
with
AI,
his
time
at
Google,
and
the
present
and
future
of
NotebookLM.
We
talk
about
the
complicated
issues
raised
by
a
tool
like
this,
and
whether
it’s
okay
to
let
an
AI
do
your
research
and
homework.
We
also
talk
about
how
to
make
sure
a
tool
like
NotebookLM
is
both
accurate
and
easily
fact-checked,
why
context
windows
are
more
important
to
the
future
of
AI
than
most
people
realize,
and
how
often
AI
podcast
hosts
should
say
“like”
in
conversation.
And
we
talk
about
Johnson’s
own
process
as
a
writer
and
creator,
and
how
AI
is
changing
the
way
he
works.
If
you
want
to
know
more
on
everything
we
discuss
in
this
episode,
here
are
some
links
to
get
you
started:
(Originally posted by David Pierce)
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