Google has announced significant updates to its AI-driven note-taking and research assistant, NotebookLM, introducing several new features aimed at expanding its utility beyond its initial audience of educators and learners. The updates now allow users to generate summaries from YouTube videos and audio files and share AI-generated audio discussions through public links.
Expanded AI Features for a Wider Audience
Originally launched at Google’s I/O developer conference, NotebookLM was initially focused on assisting educators and students. However, the tool has seen a shift in its user base, with 50% of its users now being business professionals, according to Raiza Martin, a senior product manager for AI at Google Labs.
“People are now sharing notebooks, and it’s creating a network effect,” Martin said, highlighting the tool’s growing appeal among business users who are incorporating it into their workflows.
New Sharing and Summarization Capabilities
One of the key new features in the latest update is the ability to share Audio Overviews, summaries generated by NotebookLM from user-uploaded documents. The shareable audio discussions can now be accessed via a public URL, making it easier for users to share insights with colleagues or clients.
Martin explained that many professionals are using NotebookLM to upload documents such as resumes and presentations, turning them into engaging audio discussions that can be shared directly with employers or clients.
YouTube and Audio Support Added
In addition to enhancing sharing capabilities, Google has introduced support for summarizing YouTube videos and audio files (e.g., .mp3 and .wav). This expands on NotebookLM’s previous capabilities, which included summarizing Google Docs, PDFs, text files, Google Slides, and webpages. Now, users can extract key insights from video content and audio recordings, enhancing their ability to engage with study sessions, work projects, or presentations.
User Feedback Driving Updates
According to Martin, Google Labs is a small team focused on improving NotebookLM based on user feedback. The tool is powered by Google’s multimodal large language model Gemini 1.5 Pro, and every new feature is designed to respond to the evolving needs of its users.
“What’s interesting about AI tools is that a lot of assumptions change. What might have been useful last year might not be useful this year,” Martin said.
Global Expansion and Usage Trends
While the majority of NotebookLM’s users are still based in the U.S., Martin noted that Japan has emerged as a significant market for the tool. Japanese users often use the tool to summarize documents in languages other than Japanese, a trend that demonstrates the tool’s flexibility in addressing complex research and reading needs.
Google remains committed to ensuring that user-uploaded information stays private and is not used to train any AI models. NotebookLM is currently available only on the web, though mobile app versions are planned for release next year.
Addressing AI Concerns
As with many AI tools, there are concerns that over-reliance on NotebookLM’s summarization features could lead to users avoiding long-form content or oversimplifying complex topics. However, Martin emphasized that the tool includes clickable citations to encourage deeper reading and cross-checking of original materials.
“We try to encourage you to read your original text. We encourage you to double-check all the answers that come out of NotebookLM,” she said.
Future Developments
Looking ahead, Martin indicated that the NotebookLM team is actively working on adding more input sources and enhancing output functionalities. The tool will continue to evolve with more features designed to help users get the most out of their note-taking and research workflows.
