There is a lot to say about Gemini, but in the meantime a tool with the silly name NotebookLM is the nicest thing Google makes in terms of AI. This is why.
Google continues to find it difficult to give its products good names. You can see this in all those names for the different models and tools built around Gemini, but also certainly with NotebookLM. Behind this lame name lies the nicest AI tool of the moment.
The official description doesn’t show at all how cool NotebookLM is. Google calls it an “AI-powered research and writing assistant,” but it is so much more. You can talk to your own history, turn any complicated article into an understandable podcast and more.
Before we go any further, take a listen this podcast from two AI voices talking about our Google TV Streamer review. This is done with just a few clicks.
How to use NotebookLM
Unfortunately, there is no NotebookLM app in the Play Store (yet). You will therefore have to use the AI tool via a web browser by going to Notebooklm.google.com to go. Then press the big blue button that says ‘Create’ or the button that says ‘New Notebook’ to get started.
Then you can choose ‘sources’. You can upload files yourself, such as PDFs or audio files. You can also add websites and YouTube videos and grab documents from your Google Drive.
Please note that there are limitations. For example, you won’t be able to use YouTube videos if a transcription isn’t available. You cannot use websites if they are protected. Still, nothing can stop you from saving an article on a website as a PDF and then uploading it to NotebookLM.
What can you do with it?
You can then discuss all these sources. For example, you can ask questions about complicated written texts, but you can also upload all your own notes and ask questions about them.
For example, you can ask to compare different sources to identify the differences. You can generate a timeline of all the events in the different sources you have added. NotebookNL suggests questions that you can ask if you have no inspiration.
And although the AI mainly gets its answers from your sources, you can also ask what is still missing. For example, you can ask for solutions to problems contained in a document.
Create a podcast
The newest option is the ability to have a podcast made from your sources. Imagine you have a complicated, long article or report that you need to know the highlights of.
Then you can have NotebookLM create a podcast from it, in which it seems as if two people have read the article and are discussing it with each other. You can easily listen to a podcast like this in between, while reading an entire article or report is still a time investment.
The biggest disadvantage is that these podcasts are now only available in English. You can, however, upload Dutch articles. To generate a podcast, tap ‘Notebook guide’ and under ‘audio overview’ tap ‘generate’.
More AI
Curious about the other possibilities of AI on your smartphone? We explain what all the different Gemini models are and what you can do with them. In our Gemini guide we tell you what you can do with the app.
Source: www.androidplanet.nl
