Google’s NotebookLM is a handy note-taking service, ideal for putting together any type of project that requires extensive research. Normally, you have to gather and add the necessary sources, which NotebookLM then incorporates into your project. Now, the service promises to save you even more time by collecting the right sources on its own.
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In a blog post published Wednesday, Google announced a new NotebookLM tool known as Discover. Instead of manually scouring the web for the right sources, just describe the topic you’re researching. NotebookLM surfs the web on its own and automatically creates a curated list of relevant sources.
How it works
Explain your topic, and NotebookLM looks at hundreds of possible online sources. After analyzing them all, the AI displays the names and brief summaries for the 10 it considers the most relevant. You can import them all, or deselect any you don’t want to include. The sources are then added as research to your project.
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With the sources added, you can ask NotebookLM to generate a study guide, a briefing document, an FAQ, and even a timeline. Even cooler, you can ask for a podcast that features two AI-generated but human sounding hosts chatting about your topic. You’re also able to request a summary and ask questions about the topic as covered by the sources.
How to try it yourself
To try this out, head to the NotebookLM page and sign in with your Google account. Click the Create new button to kick off a new project. At the window to add sources, select the button for “Discover sources from the web.” Type a description of your topic. If you’re stumped, click the “I’m feeling curious” button to explore a random topic chosen by the AI.
Also: You can interview the AI hosts of your NotebookLM podcast
On my end, I asked it to find sources for a topic on 14-inch and 15-inch laptops with the best tactile feel keyboards and the best battery life. After submitting my description, NotebookLM quickly found 10 sources. I chose to import them all and was then able to request the briefing document, other notes, and listen to a podcast on my topic.
The new feature is certainly a time saver since you don’t have to manually look for every possible source on your own. And Google seems to have other tricks up its sleeve for NotebookLM.
Also: Google’s NotebookLM can transform YouTube videos into study guides – here’s how
“Discover sources is the first of a series of NotebookLM features that uses the power of Gemini to find and collect relevant sources for your notebook,” Google said. “It will start rolling out today for all NotebookLM users, and we expect the rollout to take about a week or so.”
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