NotebookLM is simply too good to not strive. That is what you have to know.
Of the numerous AI tools obtainable in the present day, NotebookLM stays nearly one-of-a-kind. As a Google app that makes use of AI that can assist you work with your individual supply materials — and solely the stuff you present it — it is basically with out peer. Comparable instruments nonetheless lack both operate, polish or each, giving this Google possibility no equal, not less than not but.
NotebookLM is an AI analysis assistant that permits you to ask questions and create deliverables from the info that you just feed it. In contrast to a typical AI chatbot, NotebookLM depends totally in your sources, not random info from the web or reams of questionable coaching knowledge.
This use of AI is effective and in demand. As an illustration, Matthew McConaughey stated final 12 months on a podcast that he wished a personal LLM that was fed all of his books, notes and different private info so he might ask questions and get solutions with none exterior affect. That is basically what NotebookLM does.
Google first demoed what was then generally known as Project Tailwind at its I/O developer convention in 2023, calling it an AI-first pocket book. It was capable of reply questions primarily based on the paperwork that have been uploaded to it and create a examine information for the fabric routinely. Whereas spectacular in its personal proper, that’s about as primary as NotebookLM will get in the present day.
Since its official release in 2023, Google has given NotebookLM considerably extra options, making it top-of-the-line instruments for studying and doing extra along with your knowledge. It may be utilized in quite a lot of methods, making it versatile and interesting for almost anybody who makes use of it.
What’s NotebookLM?
NotebookLM organizes your chaotic notes and lets you pull particular threads out of dense info. What makes NotebookLM so fascinating is what it could actually do along with your supply materials as soon as it has it.
You possibly can chat with Gemini concerning the materials to get solutions. NotebookLM can even rework your sources into sudden remaining merchandise. It can provide you solutions by way of written textual content or create one thing totally new, comparable to audio or video overviews, slide decks, examine guides and extra. Relying in your wants and use case, NotebookLM can really be an all-in-one AI software.
NotebookLM is nothing with out the sources you feed it, and that is all it requires to work its magic. It treats sources as the one reality and can base all solutions and outputs on these sources. It will not scour the web for solutions. In case your sources do not have a solution to a query you ask, it should let you know.
For instance, I requested “What’s 2 + 2?” in a Pocket book that had some analysis notes from one in every of my vibe coding articles. Its response: “The supplied sources don’t include info relating to arithmetic or the sum of two plus 2.”
That is what units NotebookLM aside. You purposely give the app guardrails so you possibly can higher belief the data fed again to you. AI likes to lie to you when it would not have the reply. NotebookLM would not do that, or not less than not as regularly.
Your sources will be paperwork, audio information, YouTube movies, net hyperlinks and extra. Each time you add a brand new one, NotebookLM will reanalyze the whole thing of the pocket book and supply a abstract of the collective sources. Which means NotebookLM is just nearly as good as what you feed it. Fill your pocket book with unhealthy analysis supplies, and also you get unhealthy outcomes.
In essentially the most primary type, you possibly can ask NotebookLM particular questions primarily based in your sources to seek out solutions, which is nice in case your supply materials may be very dense and also you’re trying to retrieve a really particular reply.
For instance, say you add a whole e book for a guide report you are engaged on for college, together with notes you have taken for the category. You possibly can ask NotebookLM to drag themes, key character motivations, and some other info primarily based in your sources. This alone is extremely useful, nevertheless it’s only a fraction of what NotebookLM is able to doing.
Who’s NotebookLM finest for?
NotebookLM is for anybody seeking to perceive and make use of their knowledge higher, so there isn’t any one “finest” candidate. Nevertheless, given the sheer variety of options geared toward studying, I would be remiss if I did not counsel schoolwork. That stated, NotebookLM can be utilized for work and for private and inventive functions and initiatives, so it actually would not make sense to set limitations for it.
Widespread makes use of for NotebookLM
Faculty materials
Throw in your examine notes, your homework for the day and handouts supplied by the trainer, and you’ve got a radical useful resource you possibly can chat with about your topic. With a click on of a button, you possibly can create flash playing cards, audio or video overviews, quizzes and extra to organize for the subsequent quiz. Not everybody learns the identical means, and NotebookLM lets college students take in information on their phrases with quite a lot of totally different outputs. Flash playing cards? Certain. Desire podcasts? You possibly can immediately create one thing you possibly can hearken to to go over your notes.
The podcast-like Audio Overview characteristic helped NotebookLM acquire in reputation. The characteristic will allow you to create a “deep dive” of your supply materials in a single click on, and the output is a complete audio with two AI hosts, each of which have persona and ship the fabric in a means that’s straightforward to know. You possibly can even customise what you need the particular topic you need the hosts to speak about. Audio Overviews are simply top-of-the-line options NotebookLM has to supply.
Skilled work
NotebookLM can be utilized practically as a lot for work and enterprise as it could actually for college, and it might are available in clutch in your subsequent massive assembly or presentation. Whether or not you have to make speaking factors primarily based on a dense report or a straightforward approach to visualize that knowledge within the type of a chart or slide deck, this will all be completed with a click on of a button within the NotebookLM studio tab.
For instance, if introduced with a prolonged press launch or report, I can throw it into NotebookLM and ask the chat to interrupt down crucial points in an inventory with bullets. Then I can create a brief Audio Overview, guiding it to do the identical factor with solely the vital info. Lastly, I can ask for an extended and in-depth model of the Audio Overview, so I can dive into all the particulars if I need. The final step is most vital: At all times remember to double-check your sources. NotebookLM is nice at delivering the products, nevertheless it would not get a fact-check cross.
Inventive assistant
For private and inventive endeavors, all of NotebookLM is at your disposal. Whether or not you want a writing companion or need to hear your notes, ideas and journals relayed to you within the type of an audio overview, that is the way you break the principles. Now that NotebookLM has Nano Banana as an image generator, you possibly can even have it spin up some stable visuals primarily based in your concepts and different work that you just need to higher perceive and work with.
Considered one of my newest surprises for a “let’s examine what occurs” sort of mission was through the holidays after I known as my aunt for a recipe. I recorded the decision so I would not miss something. Geared up with a brief doc of notes and the 45-minute-long name recording, I threw each into NotebookLM as sources to have it generate a correct recipe doc, which it did with out subject. What stunned me was what occurred after I simply used the decision recording as the one supply and had it create a slide deck.
NotebookLM went to city, making a prolonged slide deck with a ton of persona. It wasn’t only a recipe, both. NotebookLM took the context of the dialog and built-in that into the slide deck. It was charming, cute and humorous. Titled Aunt Carol’s Gumbo Gospel, it even featured one quote from the cellphone dialog, as if it knew it was good. “They’re coming for those who obtained the gumbo, honey.” That is the place NotebookLM can shine, in these “wildcard” moments the place you are not anticipating a lot, solely to be wowed.
one in every of a number of Sldie NotebookLM created primarily based on a cellphone dialog i uploaded as a supply.
What are the cons of NotebookLM?
NotebookLM has loads going for it, nevertheless it’s not with out cons. You are caught with Google if you wish to use it. That additionally means you are caught solely utilizing Gemini, too. And though Google says the data you add to NotebookLM is not used to train its AI models, some could really feel a bit apprehensive about utilizing such a software given just how much data Google already has about you.
That stated, for those who’re already deeply entrenched in Google providers, you will have already weighed these dangers. However for the tech-savvy, there may be another known as Open Notebook. Whereas setting it up is much from as straightforward as accessing NotebookLM, and it could actually’t match it characteristic for characteristic, it is an general stable various that has privateness at its core.
Pocket book LM pricing
NotebookLM is free to make use of when you’ve got a Google account. Most individuals will in all probability be happy with the free model’s capabilities. Heavy customers in search of extra sources per pocket book and better entry to Gemini utilization can subscribe to a Google One AI plan, which supplies larger utilization limits, precedence entry to options and as much as 600 sources per pocket book in comparison with the free model’s 50.
Last ideas
NotebookLM is an fascinating idea to start with, and it has grown into such a robust AI software that it may be the most effective Gemini-powered product launched. It is easy to make use of, however it should additionally reward you the extra you tinker with it. There’s nothing else prefer it in the marketplace proper now that is not hindered in a method or one other, and it receives updates and new options pretty constantly. There is not any fallacious means to make use of it, and no matter characteristic you need it to have would possibly certainly be on the to-do listing of the NotebookLM crew.
