ElevenReader can now generate AI podcasts with GenFM on iOS
ElevenLabs on Wednesday introduced a new feature on its ElevenReader app that can generate instant podcast-like audio using artificial intelligence (AI). This feature, called GenFM, allows users to add any text or a YouTube video and turn it into a conversational podcast with two AI ‘hosts’ expressing insights and interesting details from the source. The feature is currently available for free in the iOS version of the app. The company says GenFM can generate audio podcasts in 32 languages.
ElevenLabs brings AI podcast feature to apps before NotebookLM
Google’s NotebookLM platform, which launched in June, allows users to generate AI summaries of any document or blocks of text in a podcast-like style, with two AI hosts discussing the content with each other. However, the platform is only available on the web and is only supported in one language: English.
ElevenLabs’ GenFM feature looks to solve both of these limitations with its AI podcasts feature. The function is are integrated in the ElevenReader app and supports 32 languages including English, Hindi, Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Japanese and more. Currently this is only available on the iOS app and the company has confirmed that the feature will be rolled out to its Android app in the coming weeks.
To use the feature, users can paste text, upload a document, or add the URL of a YouTube video to the feature and the platform will automatically convert it into a conversational podcast. The app chooses two AI voices from more than a dozen options, and these AI “hosts” read the source content and interesting insights from it in a human-like interaction.
The company highlighted that the feature is built using ElevenLabs’ AI audio models and can generate a podcast in seconds. However, the company did not mention any details about the AI models or the source of the pre-training data. The company did emphasize that it does not store user data once the AI podcast is generated.
The ElevenReader app in particular is an AI-powered text-to-speech platform that works with a wide range of formats, including PDF, ePUB, text, URLs, and even text in images. The app is free to use and users can also publish their audio for the community to listen to. However, the audio is very robotic.
