Following its NotebookLM, Gemini, and Search apps, Google is now bringing its productive AI feature to Google Drive. With the Audio Overviews feature integrated into Drive, long PDF files can now be converted into podcast-style, conversational audio summaries.
Summary in Minutes, Automatic Folder Saving
This feature works as an extension of Google Drive’s PDF viewer. In the web interface, when you open a PDF, you’ll see a new “Audio Overview” button in the top bar. Clicking this button opens the Gemini side panel and initiates the AI summary creation process. The process takes a few minutes, resulting in an audio summary ranging from 2 to 10 minutes in length.
Users can listen to the summary immediately by clicking the “Play” button. An email notification is also sent upon completion. The audio file is automatically saved to a new folder called “Audio Overviews” in Drive. This allows users to easily access summaries from any mobile or desktop device, unlike Gemini chats.
This feature aims to simplify information consumption by instantly converting text-heavy PDFs, such as lengthy industry reports, contracts, or detailed meeting minutes, into audio formats.
Google outlines three key benefits for this new feature:
- Productivity Improvement: Saves time by allowing users to quickly grasp the main points of a long document with a two- to ten-minute audio summary.
- Accessibility Improvement: Improves accessibility by providing an alternative format for consuming content.
- Preparation Improvement: Makes it easier to quickly review materials before meetings or client presentations.
This feature joins the “Listen” feature in Google Docs, reinforcing the importance of audio in digital content consumption. At launch, Audio Overviews for Google Drive PDFs only support English.
