What is Daily Listen?
Daily Listen is a new AI experiment from Google that creates a personalized, five-minute audio update for you every day. It uses your daily Google Search history and Discover feed to create a podcast that covers a few topics you’re likely interested in, with the AI hosts chatting away like seasoned podcasters.
Key Features
* Audio controls: You can play, pause, skip ahead, or rewind if you want to catch something again. There’s even a speed option for when you’re in a hurry.
* Transcript: A text transcript appears at the top of the screen, which is super helpful if you’re hard of hearing or just prefer reading along.
* Feedback: You can tap a like or dislike button to let Google know what you think, helping to shape future episodes.
* Related stories: At the bottom of the podcast are headlines you can scroll through or tap into to read more about the stories featured in your Daily Listen.
How to Find and Enable Daily Listen
To use Daily Listen, you’ll need the Google app on an iPhone or Android phone. Here’s how to get started:
1. Install the Google app on your iPhone or Android device, if you haven’t already, and then open it.
2. Tap the test tube icon at the top-left of the Google app.
3. Select the Daily Listen card, and toggle the switch to enable the feature. As of now, Daily Listen is available only in English, for US users.
4. Your first personalized podcast will appear in the Google app – starting the next day. You’ll get a new podcast every day.
My Experience with Daily Listen
When I first enabled Daily Listen, the Google app told me to wait until “tomorrow” for my first podcast. Waiting felt a bit anticlimactic, but I was intrigued enough to check back the next day.
First Listen and the UI
The first episode took a little longer to load than I’d hoped, but subsequent episodes were faster. I waited about 10 minutes for the podcast to start working and opened and closed the app several times in frustration. Google warns Daily Listen is still in the experimental phase, so occasional glitches might pop up.
Despite the initial hiccups, when it finally worked, I really appreciated getting a transcript right at the top of the screen – it made the experience seem inclusive for someone like me who is hard-of-hearing and likes reading along. Being able to scrub forward or speed up the audio was a nice touch too, especially when I wanted to skip parts or get through the episode more quickly.
The AI Hosts
The AI voices sounded like a male and a female having a casual conversation. At first, there was a slight “uncanny valley” feeling. It was clear they were not human, but the natural rhythm, pauses, and banter made them feel very lifelike. If I hadn’t known they were AI, I might have thought they were real people.
Random Content
The fun of Daily Listen lies in what it chooses to cover in the episodes. In my first listen, the AI hosts talked about:
* Star Wars: Rumors and news about an upcoming Star Wars film, Dawn of the Jedi.
* WWE: WWE star Solo Sikoa’s appearance in RAW’s Netflix debut.
* Dexter: Dexter: Resurrection, a new Dexter spin-off, is bringing back beloved characters from the original series.
I was puzzled by the Star Wars one until I remembered a late-night search I did the other day. I randomly wondered how the iconic opening crawl was created in the 70s before computer animation and found a YouTube video explaining how it was made. I do watch Star Wars movies, but I don’t religiously follow news about the franchise and didn’t even know this film was coming.
Similarly, the WWE news popped up because my husband watched RAW on Netflix the other night. Don’t judge us: He’s a 90s kid, and it was the first time Netflix had the rights to live-stream RAW. While he watched it, I Googled some of the wrestlers in the ring. So, I guess that’s why Daily Listen thought I wanted to learn more about Solo Sikoa?
As for the Dexter update – that hit the mark, since I’ve been watching the series Dexter: Original Sin and am really loving this new universe that the show-runners are creating for Dexter over a decade after the original show ended.
Overall Impressions
Daily Listen is a neat experiment from Google. While it does throw in random topics that don’t exactly align with my interests, the human-like quality of the conversation and the handy features (like transcripts and scrubbing) made it fun to try. I am still curious why it chose those topics when I probably Google hundreds of things each week, but hey, maybe it’ll get better over time.
Conclusion
Daily Listen is a quirky experiment that shows how AI could change the way we get our morning updates, turning our search history into a conversation just for us. While it’s not perfect, it’s a fun way to see what Google Labs is up to and like playing with the latest AI tools.
FAQs
Q: Is Daily Listen available for all users?
A: As of now, Daily Listen is available only in English, for US users.
Q: How do I enable Daily Listen?
A: To enable Daily Listen, follow the steps: 1. Install the Google app on your iPhone or Android device, if you haven’t already, and then open it. 2. Tap the test tube icon at the top-left of the Google app. 3. Select the Daily Listen card, and toggle the switch to enable the feature.
Q: What if I don’t like the topics covered in Daily Listen?
A: You can tap a like or dislike button to let Google know what you think, helping to shape future episodes.
Q: Can I customize the content of Daily Listen?
A: Not yet. Daily Listen uses your daily Google Search history and Discover feed to create a personalized podcast. However, Google might add customization options in the future.
Q: Is Daily Listen available on other devices?
A: As of now, Daily Listen is only available on Android and iOS devices.
