Google Workspace, AI
Keeping track of ideas, notes, and documents often feels endless, but with Google’s NotebookLM, you can change that. This experimental AI-powered tool started as a side project from Google, but it’s gaining traction fast! It redefines how you interact with your own notes, documents, and ideas.
Designed to work with Google Workspace, NotebookLM helps users and teams summarize, search, and build on their ideas in ways that were previously time-consuming or even impossible. In the article below, we’ll look at its features and how it can help your productivity.
What is NotebookLM?
NotebookLM changes the way you interact with your notes. Instead of spending hours digging through documents, you can use its advanced features to find clarity and solutions faster.
For example, if you’ve uploaded a long report, NotebookLM can provide a concise summary, highlight important sections, or answer specific questions about the content. If you’re stuck on an idea, the tool can analyze your notes and suggest fresh perspectives or connections you might have overlooked.
It also improves collaboration. Teams can share notebooks, contribute in real time, and use AI-generated suggestions to stay aligned on projects. This makes NotebookLM especially valuable for businesses managing complex information or cross-functional projects.
What makes NotebookLM different from large language models?
At its core, NotebookLM is an AI tool for working with the content you upload. Think of it as an intelligent assistant that helps you analyze, organize, and expand on your notes and documents.
It’s a trained model like the others; however, you need to add your own data for it to work. And since it’s designed to be grounded, it makes sure all its answers can be verified against your sources, i.e. it won’t hallucinate on you.
Unlike general AI tools like ChatGPT, NotebookLM doesn’t pull information from the internet or make up facts. Instead, it focuses entirely on your materials — summarizing key points, finding relevant information, and suggesting ways to build on your ideas.
What does NotebookLM do?
NotebookLM has many tools that are useful for both personal and professional tasks:
- Idea generation: NotebookLM's AI-powered suggestions can spark innovative thinking and help you overcome creative blocks. By analyzing your existing notes and providing relevant prompts, NotebookLM can inspire new ideas and perspectives.
- Brainstorming collaboration: NotebookLM encourages team brainstorming by allowing multiple users to join in and add their ideas to a shared notebook. Real-time updates and AI-assisted suggestions facilitate seamless collaboration and knowledge sharing.
- Content creation: NotebookLM can assist in content creation by providing writing assistance, suggesting relevant information, and even generating draft content or an audio file. This can be particularly helpful for writers, researchers, and marketers.
How NotebookLM works
NotebookLM uses AI, Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro, to be precise, to analyze, organize, and enhance your uploaded materials. Start by creating a notebook and uploading content such as PDFs, Google Docs, YouTube videos, or audio files. You can upload up to 50 sources at once, and each source can have up to 500,000 words.
It also generates tools like timelines, FAQs, and study guides, making it easier to navigate and use your materials effectively. And with Audio Overview, you can turn your sources into deep-dive, conversational audio discussions on your selected topic.
A few limitations of NotebookLM to keep in mind
👉 Currently, NotebookLM primarily supports text documents. It doesn’t support Google Sheets or other data formats yet.
👉 There’s no mobile app (though the mobile web version works).
👉 Audio summaries and AI-generated content are available in English only.
👉 Google doesn’t use your personal data to train NotebookLM, but just in case, you should avoid uploading sensitive materials if you’re concerned about privacy.
Why choose NotebookLM with Revolgy?
NotebookLM is a great tool, but integrating it into your workflows can take time and expertise. At Revolgy, as Google Workspace experts, we ensure your team can take full advantage of NotebookLM’s features from the start.
We offer tailored training sessions to help your team get started, configure the tool to fit your unique needs and provide ongoing support to ensure everything runs smoothly. Whether you’re new to Google Workspace or already using it extensively, we’ll make sure NotebookLM enhances your productivity without adding complexity.
What we offer:
- Tailored training: Get hands-on guidance for your team to make the most of NotebookLM’s features.
- Integration support: We make sure NotebookLM works smoothly within your existing Google Workspace setup.
- Ongoing assistance: Whether you need troubleshooting or tips for advanced features, we’ve got you covered.
NotebookLM makes working with notes smarter and more efficient. With Revolgy’s support, you can easily integrate it into your workflows and unlock its full potential. Ready to get started? Let’s talk.
Read next: Gemini prompting guide 101 on how to write the best prompts for the large language model.
