After we speak about AI tasks from Google, the dialog often revolves round Gemini.
As Google’s most widespread and accessible AI characteristic, it is onerous to make use of any of the tech large’s services with out working into the generative AI chatbot.
Nonetheless, Gemini is not only a chatbot. It powers different AI instruments, together with NotebookLM. NotebookLM is without doubt one of the finest AI instruments anyplace, and whereas I take advantage of it sporadically now, I want I had entry to it in college.
NotebookLM’s capability to generate summaries, explanations, and solutions from uploaded paperwork is very helpful for anybody who juggles paperwork scattered throughout a number of locations and doc sorts.
Whereas it isn’t excellent, I feel it is one of many finest property a university pupil can use of their research.
For me, a Historical past graduate who needed to juggle extra paperwork than I may course of at one time, it could have been a strong assistant. Here is why.
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NotebookLM can analyze a number of doc sorts
No have to flip forwards and backwards between tabs
A lot of my analysis as a pupil was in bodily media. This time-consuming course of was rewarding, however the lack of digital shortcuts meant I erred on the facet of warning when taking notes.
Whereas in a digital PDF I may bookmark pages for later, or add a remark with a single click on, my references for bodily media have been often lists of web page numbers with one- or two-word descriptions.
This labored, but it surely meant plenty of wasted time going forwards and backwards to double-check whether or not a notice was related. Many of those references did grow to be irrelevant, however I needed to waste time scouring books to test.
Alongside my bodily media and related notes have been class notes, PDFs, digital books, and web site hyperlinks.
It was a multitude of various doc sorts, and I spent hours sorting all of them into textual content paperwork for simple reference.
NotebookLM may have eliminated the necessity for this course of solely. Add a doc with a suitable file kind, and NotebookLM can reference all of them once you ask it a query.
For instance, if I have been searching for details about a subject, NotebookLM can test audio information, scanned PDFs, web sites, and paperwork for a solution.
Not needing to spend hours sorting all my notes into one doc would have saved me hours of administrative work.
I need not fear about NotebookLM hallucinating content material, as on this state of affairs, I’m utilizing it to level me in direction of notes that I’ve already verified as genuine.
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NotebookLM enables you to visualize knowledge the way you need
A format for everybody
When you’ve gotten 1000’s of phrases throughout audio, video, and textual content paperwork, it is onerous to take all of it in at a look.
Maybe you favor to hearken to an audio abstract or create a thoughts map of the important thing parts of your notes. NotebookLM can create an audio overview, video overview, thoughts map, research information, briefing doc, FAQ, and timeline out of your paperwork.
Relying in your paperwork, you might discover a few of these codecs extra helpful than others.
As a pupil juggling a number of paperwork, I’d have discovered the research information format notably helpful.
NotebookLM generates a brief quiz, a sequence of essay-format questions, and a glossary of key phrases.
Once I began a brand new mission, I often felt overwhelmed by the quantity of data at my disposal. These prompts would have helped me reinforce my understanding of my sources, so after I got here to jot down up my analysis, I had a stronger concept the place to begin.
I am much less eager on the audio or video codecs. Whereas I may see the audio format being helpful for individuals who wrestle to soak up info visually, it is a lot tougher to identify errors made by NotebookLM.
Any software powered by generative AI is able to hallucinating sources and knowledge, and NotebookLM shines when it references the place it has pulled summaries from.
The audio and video codecs don’t clearly point out the place they pull info from.
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NotebookLM makes it simple to double-check its info
Good for verifying info and additional analysis
One of many causes I am glad instruments like Gemini and ChatGPT weren’t round after I was in school is their tendency to hallucinate info.
Whereas everyone knows that we must always confirm every part discovered on the web, it is easy to skip this step once you’re in a rush.
Generative AI chatbots typically put hyperlinks to their sources on the finish of summaries, however these typically require you to hunt via your complete doc for the precise reference.
NotebookLM provides a supply hyperlink after every assertion in a abstract. Click on this hyperlink, and it will take you on to the part of the doc the place it pulled the data from.
After importing a doc to NotebookLM, I can test each single assertion in minutes.
The one drawback is that whereas NotebookLM enables you to save its summaries to a separate notice, you’ll be able to’t immediately edit these generated responses. You’ll be able to copy the textual content right into a notice for enhancing your self, however this removes the supply hyperlinks.
Regardless of this problem, NotebookLM’s citations not solely compensate for one of many largest failings of generative AI, but additionally assist you to analysis a doc your self.
If I had entry to this characteristic in college, I may have understood the context of a doc in minutes, and had pre-generated launching off factors for additional analysis.
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NotebookLM makes it onerous to lose helpful paperwork
It might summarize the amassed notes of a whole college profession
Over the course of my school life, I amassed a whole lot of paperwork, from PDF copies of books to pages of Phrase docs containing class notes to audio recordings of visitor lectures.
As I constructed my pyramid of data through the years, many of those paperwork have been misplaced or buried in forgotten folders.
A lot of this info was helpful, and I’d often waste time digging for a half-remembered notice or paper of relevance to my present work years later.
If NotebookLM have been round in my first 12 months in school, I may have chucked each single doc I personal into the app.
NotebookLM’s separate notebooks would have let me type them by topic, however the result’s akin to a private librarian.
NotebookLM can reply queries with sources from paperwork years outdated, with hyperlinks so I can head again and test them.
I shudder to consider what number of helpful notes and papers I misplaced resulting from my poor group. NotebookLM may have made certain no doc was wasted.
NotebookLM encourages you to do the work your self
There’s loads of authentic criticism leveled at the usage of AI in schooling. From ChatGPT creating accomplished essays for college students to Gemini hallucinating sources, there’s proof that AI can severely harm college students’ schooling.
Nonetheless, generative AI is right here to remain, so we should study to make use of it responsibly and establish the place it will possibly assist, not hinder us.
As a pupil, I wasted hours performing fundamental organizational duties that didn’t serve to assist my schooling.
Instruments like NotebookLM do the organizational give you the results you want, then present useful jumping-off factors to your personal analysis.
I can see how NotebookLM might be abused to skip tedious analysis duties, however for anybody taking their research severely, it is an extremely highly effective asset. If solely I have been ready to make use of it.