NotebookLM

NotebookLM is an AI-first notebook from Google, grounded by user-input documents with the aim of helping people learn faster and gain better insights from their chosen sources. NotebookLM is an experimental product that combines language models with user-selected sources to create a virtual research assistant capable of summarizing facts, explaining ideas, and brainstorming new connections. Source-grounding builds a personalized AI with knowledge most applicable to the user.

Originally called Project Tailwind, NotebookLM was introduced alongside a number of AI-first experiments in development at Google I/O in May 2023. On July 12, 2023, Google began rolling out NotebookLM, initially making it available to only a small group of users in the US as it continues to refine the product. Google plans to get feedback from users as part of a plan to release NotebookLM responsibly in alignment with the company's AI principles. Google created a waiting list for US users wanting early access to NotebookLM.

An experimental product, built by a small team in Google Labs, NotebookLM allows users to select specific Google Docs for the model to ingest, performing one of three tasks:

• Summarize—NoebookLM automatically generates a summary of the Google Doc along with key topics and suggested questions to ask for a better understanding of its content.
• Q&A—Users can ask their own questions about uploaded documents for a deeper dive into the material.
• Generate ideas—NotebookLM can be used to generate creative new ideas, such as generating a script for a short video or pitch on the topic.

Example of NotebookLM applied to a student's notes.

While NotebookLM is initially only for use with Google Docs, the company plans to introduce additional formats. Google claims grounding NotebookLM with specific sources reduces the risk of model hallucinations. NotebookLM also has citations built in, to simplify fact-checking its generated responses. The model is designed to only access the specific source material that users choose to upload and not any other files or dialogue.