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Being disrupt is annoying . Apparently , even AI - generated podcast hosts agree .
Or so Google NotebookLM ’s users discovered . NotebookLM launched last twelvemonth andwent viralfor its lineament that creates entirely AI - generated podcast - like discussions from content users upload , discussed by gossipy AI bot acting like podcast hosts . In December 2024 , NotebookLM launched a new feature call “ Interactive Mode ” whichallows the user to “ call in ” to the podcast and ask question , basically interrupting the AI host as they talk .
So NotebookLM ’s team decided that some “ friendliness tuning ” was in orderliness , and posted a ego - deprecating joke about it on the product ’s official X account :
After we launch synergistic Audio Overviews , which allow you " call in " and call for the AI hosts a bouncy interrogative sentence , we had to do some “ friendliness tuning ” because the hosts seemed peeved at being interrupted . File this away in “ things I never mean would be my job , but are . ”
Woodward suppose the team fixed the problem partly by analyse how its own members would answer interruptions more courteously .
“ We test a variety of different prompting , often study how hoi polloi on the team would do interruptions , and we landed on a Modern prompt that we think feels more friendly and engaging , ” he suppose .
It ’s not totally clear why the issue cropped up in the first position . Human podcast host sometimes display defeat when interrupted , which could cease up in a organization ’s education data . A informant intimate with the topic said this case most in all likelihood staunch from the organisation ’s prompting design , not condition information , however .
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Regardless , the mess is likely work . When TechCrunch tried out Interactive Mode , the AI host did not sound riled but did verbalize surprise , outcry “ Woah ! ” before politely asking the human to chime in .
