Longtime NPR’s David Greene criticizes Google over NotebookLM comments

David Greene, the long-time host of “Morning Edition” for NPR, is criticizing Google, saying that the voice of the podcast is male in the company. NotebookLM tool from Greene, according to The Washington Post.

Greene said that when friends, family, and co-workers started emailing him about his similarities, he was convinced that the words resembled his voice, tone, and use of filler words like “uh.”

“My voice is, like, a very important part of who I am,” said Greene, who currently hosts KCRW’s show “Left, Right, & Center.”

Among other things, Google’s NotebookLM allows users to create a podcast with AI hosts. A spokesperson for the company told the Post that the audio used in the production is not related to Mr. Greene: “The sound quality of male voices in NotebookLM’s Audio Overviews is based on a paid expert hired by Google.”

This isn’t the first debate over AI voices that sound like real people. In one notable example, OpenAI later deleted the ChatGPT text actress Scarlett Johansson complained that it was an imitation of himself.