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Your weekly briefing on the AI stories, trends, and tips that matter most. Curated for the curious, not just the technical.
Things to Try This Week
1. Turn Any Article into a Podcast You Can Listen To
Instead of reading a long article, you can have Google turn it into a realistic two-person conversation that sounds like a real podcast. It's a great way to learn about something while you're driving, cooking, or folding laundry.
- Go to notebooklm.google.com (it's free with a Google account).
- Click 'New Notebook' and then paste in a link to any article or blog post you've been meaning to read.
- Click the 'Audio Overview' button and hit 'Generate.'
- Wait a minute or two, then hit play — you'll hear two AI voices having a surprisingly natural conversation about what's in that article.
2. Get the Short Version of Any Confusing News Story
When a big news story breaks and everyone's talking about it but you're not sure what it actually means, AI can give you a plain-English summary in seconds — no expertise needed.
- Open ChatGPT (or Claude or Gemini — they're all free).
- Copy the headline or a paragraph from a confusing news article.
- Paste it in and type: 'I just saw this story but I don't really follow this topic. Can you explain what's going on and why people care about it, in simple everyday language?'
- If the answer still feels too complicated, just type: 'Simpler please, like you're telling a friend over coffee.'
3. Spot When AI Might Be Giving You a Biased Answer
AI tools can sometimes reflect stereotypes from the internet without you even noticing. A quick two-minute exercise can help you see this for yourself so you know when to push back on what AI tells you.
- Open ChatGPT (or Claude or Gemini — they're all free).
- Type this: 'Describe what a typical neighborhood looks like in [pick a city you know well].'
- Now ask the same question about a different city or town you know.
- Read both answers carefully — do they feel fair and accurate, or do you notice any assumptions or stereotypes? If something feels off, try typing: 'That description seems a bit stereotypical. Can you give me a more balanced picture?' This is a great habit to build: always read AI answers with a little healthy skepticism.