Contextualizing NotebookLM

Like the majority of us, ChatGPT was my first introduction to what generative AI tools were, and since then, as a non-technical but generally curious person, I’ve been working to understand the bones of the technology. Some things are easy enough; others can seem almost dystopian.

One of the challenges of managing projects at any organization, is determining which tools to use. Very often, the decision is quiet simple: you use what is allowed (perhaps invested in) by the organization or you figure out a solution within the context of what isn’t allowed. I’ve mainly managed most of my projects through Google Sheets (which has also improved tremendously as a project management tool), and loosely followed along how tools such as Notion etc are adding AI-powered workflows. That sounds great, but isn’t something I can use. NotebookLM on the other hand, I can definitely use.

I find it to be unique in how it serves as a research assistant, synthesizer, creator of multimodal assets, a chatbot and more. Between the time I started using it (~8 months ago), and now, it has transformed significantly - it now ingests spreadsheets, creates videos and much more. I now think of NotebookLM as a project partner that can help cut through the intial chaos and possible glut of information.