Google has officially made its AI note-taking app accessible to all users in the United States who are at least 18 years old, as disclosed by the company on Friday. This experimental app is also undergoing significant enhancements and now leverages Gemini Pro, Google’s new extensive language model, to assist with document comprehension and logical reasoning.
Upon uploading documents to NotebookLM, the application can automatically generate summaries and propose follow-up inquiries regarding the document’s content. Unlike conventional chatbots that draw from vast and unrelated information sources, NotebookLM concentrates solely on the documents it receives.
Google is now introducing additional functionalities to the product, moving beyond just producing summaries and suggesting queries. NotebookLM is equipped with new tools aimed at aiding users in structuring their curated notes into organized writing projects. For instance, users can select a group of notes and instruct NotebookLM to create something fresh, like a script outline, an email newsletter, or a marketing plan draft.
Furthermore, NotebookLM can now propose actions based on your ongoing tasks. For instance, if you’ve highlighted a passage while reading a source, NotebookLM will proactively offer to summarize the selected text into a new note or help you grasp the content’s meaning. In another scenario, if you’re composing a note, NotebookLM will offer to refine your writing or suggest related ideas from your sources based on your current content.
To enhance user experience, Google is introducing a new noteboard space where you can conveniently pin quotes from your conversations or your self-authored notes. This addition was in response to user requests for the ability to save interactions with NotebookLM as notes.
Google is also implementing some minor adjustments to the product. When adding a note, NotebookLM will now create an independent new note instead of adding it to a single notepad. Additionally, clicking on a citation number in a chat response or saved note will instantly take you to the original quote in the source.
For users who prefer a focused note-taking experience, NotebookLM allows you to hide the source. If you wish to direct NotebookLM’s AI towards specific sources, you can engage with a chosen set of sources individually in the source sidebar. Furthermore, Google is introducing support for PDFs and copied text, enabling users to copy and paste text to create a new source and edit its title once it’s generated.
In addition to these new features, Google is extending the product’s capabilities, allowing notebooks to include up to 20 sources and a source to accommodate up to 200,000 words.
This announcement follows approximately five months after Google initially introduced NotebookLM to a select group of users. Initially showcased as Project Tailwind during Google I/O earlier in the year, Google marketed it as an “AI notebook for everyone,” with applications for students to organize lecture notes and coursework documents.
While NotebookLM holds promise, it remains to be seen whether it will avoid the fate of many of Google’s experimental projects consigned to the “Google Graveyard,” as previously highlighted by TechCrunch’s Devin Coldeway.
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