Exploring Ideas with Google’s NotebookLM: An AI-powered Tool
Google’s NotebookLM offers a unique way to experiment with an AI chat system that focuses on sources you select. This innovative tool leverages Google Gemini, a powerful AI system, to not only generate chat responses based on your chosen sources but also help you organize and explore the content within those sources.
One standout feature of NotebookLM is the ability to add multiple lines to a notebook and then generate a customized study guide based on a specific selection of those notes. In September 2024, NotebookLM introduced an option to create an audio overview, which creates a podcast-style conversation pulled from your selected sources. This blend of AI tools, including chat and notes-related functions, positions NotebookLM as one of the most effective tools for delving into ideas within a focused set of sources.
Users of NotebookLM must meet a few requirements:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Have a Google account
- Reside in one of the 180 regions where the Gemini API is available
NotebookLM is free to use, and Google assures that it does not use your data to train the system. However, as an experimental tool, NotebookLM, like most AI services, may occasionally provide inaccurate information. Let’s dive into five key capabilities of Google’s NotebookLM as of September 2024.
How to Use Google’s NotebookLM
While NotebookLM shines in its chat and other AI-powered features, its ability to work seamlessly with notes alongside sources is also noteworthy. Moreover, the option to create an audio overview offers a unique perspective on your content.
Add Sources
After creating a new notebook and assigning a name, you can add up to 50 sources. These sources may include various content types such as Google Docs, Google Slides, texts, PDFs, and web links. Each source should not exceed 500,000 words in length. Additionally, NotebookLM features image understanding, enabling it to process and analyze information in images present in your sources.
To add sources, simply select the “+” in the upper-left corner and add them to NotebookLM.
Access Source Summary
By selecting any source from the list on the left side, NotebookLM displays two AI-generated sections above the source content: a summary and key topics. The summary encapsulates the core ideas of the source in a few sentences, while the key topics serve as auto-generated prompts for starting a new chat.
Chat with Your Sources
NotebookLM generates chat responses based on your sources, facilitating an effective way to explore a set of documents, slides, and links. You can ask questions, and the responses may include information from your sources with numbered citations that link back to the relevant content.
To initiate a chat, simply enter a prompt, or choose from the suggested prompts that appear above the prompt box. You can also save responses to notes for later reference.
Make Notes
NotebookLM offers two methods for adding notes:
- To create a new note manually, click on the “Add note” icon, input your text, and save it. You can edit the title and contents of manually created notes at any time.
- To save an AI-generated chat response to a note, select the “Save to note” button within a chat response. Notes created from AI chat responses can be viewed later but cannot be edited.
Creating and managing notes alongside source content offers a valuable feature for students, writers, and researchers. You can also perform actions on notes like summarizing, suggesting related ideas, creating a study guide, outlining, or combining notes into a single note.
Generate Guides – Including Audio!
The Notebook guide option provides a summary of all sources with the ability to create various types of documents, including FAQ, Study Guide, Table of Contents, Timeline, and Briefing Doc. Additionally, NotebookLM can generate a podcast-style audio overview of your content. The audio overview selectively focuses on portions of your content, providing a condensed view of the sources.
With its innovative blend of AI features and note-taking capabilities, Google’s NotebookLM stands out as a versatile tool for exploring and organizing information. Give it a try today by signing in with your Google account!