The Meadow in 11 minutes

AI is making podcasts now. It’s not….awful?

This is The Meadow, a place to create space for those seeking to be more fully awake and alive in the world.

I have been resistant to AI since its inception. It gave me clunky answers to my admittedly simplistic prompts, and I was concerned about it stealing my ideas. I pictured AI like a dumpster that grew with every piece of information it stole, and I didn’t want to feed that beast.

But then I attended a few AI workshops and found some reasonable perspectives on using AI, especially programs like CoPilot that purported to not steal your data. So I cautiously used it from time to time, mostly as a syntax aid to assist in rewriting awkward sentences in emails or assignment instructions, but never for creative or academic writing—I can’t find an ethical way to allow that, for me or my students. Sometimes I used it to create an image, just for fun, like the one below.

Recently, though, a friend told me about the incredible way AI is helping her navigate through information overload by sorting through her past writings, so I decided to try an experiment. I uploaded the blog posts for The Meadow into NotebookLM, an AI-supported place for sorting through ideas. I asked it what type of audience would be interested in these writings, and it generated this response:

The audience for "The Meadow" is likely composed of individuals who are on a journey of self-discovery and spiritual exploration, who value authenticity and vulnerability, and who seek connection and support in navigating the complexities of life. They are likely interested in personal growth, mindfulness, and finding meaning in both the joys and struggles of everyday existence.

Wow, that’s pretty good. Again, it’s just pattern recognition, but with all the information in our brains these days, pattern recognition is not easy, and we often overlook key information. I found myself appreciating the clarity of the response and how it was more objective than one I would have written.

And then, friends, I noticed another feature in NotebookLM: Audio Overview. When I clicked it, it generated an 11 minute podcast discussion between two speakers that gave an excellent and accurate synopsis of the entire blog! 🤯 (It also can generate a FAQ, timeline, and study guide for the posts. My academic mind is stuttering with the possibilities here.)

You can listen to the 11 minutes AI podcast of The Meadow here. I would love to know your thoughts on it.