Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
One of the best parts of my job is that I get to chat with industry folks who, like me, eat and breathe AI tools. After meeting with yet another (non-Google-affiliated) media person last week who told me how much they loved NotebookLM, I decided to give it a real try.
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Although I've tried several NotebookLM features for the site before and have been impressed, finding a way to incorporate NotebookLM into my workflow seemed daunting -- especially because every time I tried project management tools such as Notion or Asana, I was instantly overwhelmed and never stuck with them.
However, for this article, I committed to the bit, moved some of my everyday content over, and here is what my experience was like (and some ways to get the most out of it).
Easy to organize your files
Google describes NotebookLM as a "Your Personalized AI Research Assistant," and while the title may be true, it is a little vague. Practically speaking, NotebookLM is a virtual information manager in which you can upload your own files and organize them into "notebooks."
Screenshot by Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET
Those notebooks then have many AI-powered features, such as the ability to generate a Study guide, a briefing document, an FAQ, a Timeline, and even an AI podcast. I will get into that soon. Right now, let's talk about its most underrated feature: organization.
Importing all of your documents and sources into a new notebook is simple. As mentioned before, I typically give up at this point with content management applications because creating each individual content section takes a lot of toggling and brainpower. While customization is great, I am more of a plug-and-play type of user. With NotebookLM, all you have to do is click on "Create New" and then upload a source by dragging and dropping a file from your computer or drop a link or Google Workspace file.
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