Google’s NotebookLM permits you to experiment with an AI chat system centered on sources you choose. The instrument leverages Google Gemini, a extremely succesful AI system, not solely to generate chat responses based mostly in your sources but in addition that will help you manage and discover the content material inside your sources.
For instance, it’s possible you’ll add a number of traces to a pocket book, then use NotebookLM to generate a personalized research information based mostly on a particular number of these notes.
In September 2024, NotebookLM added an choice to create an audio overview, which builds a podcast-style dialog drawn out of your sources. This mix of AI instruments, together with chat and notes-related options, makes NotebookLM some of the efficient instruments for exploring concepts present in a centered set of sources.
Customers of NotebookLM should:
- Be at the very least 18 years outdated.
- Have a Google account.
- Be in one of many 180 areas the place the Gemini API is on the market.
NotebookLM is free to make use of, and Google doesn’t use your knowledge to coach NotebookLM. Nevertheless, NotebookLM is experimental and, like most AI providers, might generally present incorrect data. 5 core capabilities of Google’s NotebookLM — as of September 2024 — are lined beneath. Go to NotebookLM and register with a Google account to get began.
SEE: Google Chrome: Safety and UI suggestions you’ll want to know (TechRepublic Premium)
How do you employ Google’s NotebookLM?
Whereas Google emphasizes chat and different AI-powered options of NotebookLM, the flexibility to work with notes alongside sources will also be helpful. It additionally has the flexibility to create an audio overview, offering a unique option to course of your content material.
Add sources
After creating a brand new pocket book and naming it, it’s possible you’ll add as much as 50 sources. These sources can embody numerous content material, together with Google Docs, Google Slides, texts, PDFs, and internet hyperlinks. Nevertheless, every supply should be not more than 500,000 phrases lengthy. For context, that’s almost the mixed phrase rely of the three “Lord of the Rings” books by J.R.R. Tolkein. Subsequently, file size doubtless won’t be a priority for many enterprise or faculty makes use of.
Moreover, NotebookLM contains picture understanding, which suggests it will possibly course of and analyze data in photographs included in your sources.
Entry a supply abstract
Choose any supply from the left-side record, and NotebookLM will show two AI-generated sections — a abstract and key subjects — above the supply content material. The abstract seeks to seize the core ideas of the supply in a number of sentences. In distinction, the important thing subjects could be seen as auto-generated prompts: Choose a key matter from the record, and NotebookLM begins a brand new chat. For instance, a click on on a key matter of “Collaborative tools” begins a chat with a “Discuss collaborative tools” immediate.
Chat together with your sources
NotebookLM generates chat responses based mostly in your sources, making it an efficient instrument to interrogate a set of paperwork, slides, and hyperlinks. Ask a query, and the generated response might embody data out of your sources, with numbered citations within the response that hyperlink on to the associated content material.
Undecided what to ask? Choose any of the instructed prompts that show above the immediate field. Need to edit a response for later use? Choose the copy button within the decrease left, then paste the response in any customary textual content discipline elsewhere — however please word that citations are omitted if you copy-and-paste a response on this method. You additionally might save a response to a word.
Make notes
There are two methods so as to add notes in NotebookLM:
- To make a brand new word manually, choose the “Add note” icon, after which add your textual content. As soon as saved, it’s possible you’ll later choose and edit the title and contents of any manually created word.
- To save lots of any AI generated chat response to a word, choose the “Save to note” button within the decrease nook of a chat response. Notes created from an AI chat response could also be chosen and considered later, however the system received’t allow you to edit the generated content material within the word.
Creating and managing notes alongside supply content material presents a functionality that many college students, writers, and researchers would possibly discover useful. Choose the checkbox within the upper-right nook of a number of notes, and NotebookLM shows text-buttons with actions to tackle the notes.
The word motion buttons can:
- Summarize the chosen notes.
- Counsel associated concepts.
- Create a research information.
- Create an overview.
- Mix the chosen notes right into a single word.
Generate guides — together with audio!
The Pocket book information possibility — situated within the lower-right space of the show — supplies entry to a abstract of all sources, together with choices to generate a number of kinds of paperwork or an audio overview of your sources. The kinds of paperwork that NotebookLM can create are much like the word actions: FAQ, Research Information, Desk of Contents, Timeline, and a Briefing Doc. When you choose considered one of these, the system generates a brand new word that comprises the kind of content material requested.
Choose the “audio overview” possibility for the system to create a podcast-style dialogue with simulated voices about your content material. The overview might take a while to generate. After requesting it, you possibly can shut your browser and proceed with different duties. Even when an audio overview is prepared, it takes a little bit of time to load the generated audio. The generated audio does a formidable job of portraying hosts conversing about your content material.
Audio overview selectively focuses on parts of your content material. Consider it as a small sampler of your sources quite than complete protection of each element. For instance, in considered one of my assessments involving 4 paperwork and two displays, the generated audio overview ran for greater than 9 minutes. The dialog captured at the very least three main parts of the content material but in addition lined some minor particulars {that a} human editor doubtless would have omitted.