Research is one of the most critical and time-consuming challenges facing writers and scholars. As a journalist covering complex and technical topics, I find that staying properly informed can be a job in itself.
Recently, Google has developed new AI-based tools that transform written, textual documents and YouTube videos into audio or podcasts to help researchers in their learning processes.
Also: Google’s new AI course will teach you how to write more effective prompts – in 5 steps
The tech giant is now experimenting with a new AI-based tool called Light upwhich allows users to convert long, dense research documents and books into concise AI-generated audio conversations. Google describes the tool as an “experimental technology that uses AI to tailor content to your learning preferences.”
Illuminate is similar to Google’s CarnetLMan experimental AI notebook that combines LLMs with user notes (such as PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, audio files, and Google Docs) to deepen your understanding of a topic by discussing it with you. Illuminate also generates audio discussions, but it is suited to more technical content and limited formats.
What is Illuminate?
Illuminate uses AI to turn published articles and works into audio discussions with “two AI-generated voices in conversation” discussing key points and takeaways from the article. According to Google, “Illuminate is currently optimized for published academic articles in computer science.”
How to use Illuminate
To test the technology, I signed in with my Google account and downloaded PDF links to tech-focused articles that I read as part of my job. On the Illuminate website, I went to the Generate tab, where I could either search for a topic on arxiv.org or directly paste a PDF URL from arxiv.org. For my first audio conversation, I downloaded a PDF link to an article titled Power to the people? Opportunities and Challenges for Crowdsourced AI.
After downloading the link, I hit Generate and waited a few minutes (it may take longer depending on the length of the document and current traffic) for the 17-page document to turn into an audio conversation . Once the 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 chats are deleted after 30 days unless you save them to your personal library.”
Also: Google’s AI podcast tool turns your text into incredibly realistic audio – for free
You can access your library by tapping My Library, which contains two sections: Personal and Public (generated audio conversations available to the public). You can also view the conversation transcript and share your audio builds with others by tapping the “Share this content” icon at the bottom. Here is a link to my audio generation of the article mentioned above.
The audio conversation succinctly expressed the main themes and takeaways contained in the document. I was also surprised by how realistic the conversation was, like I was listening to my favorite tech podcast. Currently, voice personalization is automatically set to “consumer, medium, and semi-professional.”
I can see this tool being very useful for academics, students and writers working on long research papers. Illuminate can be used as a research assistant tool if you’re struggling to grasp the key points of an article and need an extra boost from AI to refine what you may have missed after reading.
Also: Study reveals AI-generated research articles on Google Scholar – why it matters
Currently, users are limited to five audio generations per day.
How to access Illuminate
You can access Illuminate at and you must have a Google account to log in.