Adobe Adds AI Tools to Turn PDFs Into Podcasts, Presentations

Adobe is adding more generative AI features to its Acrobat Studio PDF reader and editor to give users more ways to summarize content. 

Acrobat Studio users will be able to generate audio and visual summaries of PDFs as presentations and podcasts, which can be distributed to other team members or the public. A chat-based editing tool will be available to make adjustments to the summaries.

In the Generate Podcast feature, users can feed the AI audio model a variety of PDFs and have it generate a podcast-style summary, according to a press release from Adobe. This could be useful for those without time to scan an entire document, and just need the key headlines while on the move. 

Even though Adobe has its own audio AI model, it has opted to use a combination of Microsoft GPT and Google, with Microsoft doing the transcription and Google providing the voice. It may move to its own model in time, but evidently did not believe it was ready at launch. 

For presentations, Acrobat Studio users can ask the AI chat to create a pitch deck that pulls key insights from the PDF. The AI will tap into Adobe Express, the company’s content creation tool that lets users create videos, graphics, and light web pages. 

This is just the latest AI-filled update to hit Acrobat Studio, with Adobe previously adding a feature called PDF Spaces, which lets AI agents scan documents, pull out key insights, explain jargon, and organize notes. This builds on that by adding a new layer of summarization formats for export. 

Adobe embedding AI heavily into its portfolio of apps

Adobe has been pressed by ChatGPT and other AI services, alongside its own shareholders, to embed AI into its portfolio of apps. Visual artists are perceived as among the jobs most under threat from AI, due to the ability for anyone to now request images, graphics, and videos and have the prompt executed in less than a minute. 

To that end, Adobe has embedded its Firefly AI model into many of its most popular programs, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. It has also launched Express AI Assistant, which lets users craft images, make edits to documents, and work with the user to refine the content. It also launched Firefly Foundry, which lets developers build on top of its generative AI model. 

It has also branched out its apps to popular generative AI services, the most well-known of these integrations being with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Users can access Photoshop, Adobe Express, and Acrobat in ChatGPT, with OpenAI’s model acting as an agent in these apps and making edits. 

Not everyone is happy with AI integration

Not everyone is on board with Adobe’s integration of AI into its portfolio of apps, nor with how the company’s Firefly model ingests and reuses copyrighted data.

Several Adobe users have attacked the company for changes to its terms and conditions, hinting that it will use creations in Photoshop, Illustrator, and more to train the next versions of its AI model.

Last month, Adobe was sued by author Elizabeth Lyon, who claims the company used her instructional guides on how to train LLMs without permission or payment.

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