Wow, AI Just Gave Learning a Serious Makeover!

I hope you are sitting down because what I’m about to share may make you weak, but in a good way! When I realized what Google accomplished with their latest Gen AI app, I called a friend and stammered trying to find the words to describe the impact on learning. All I could say was “Girrrllll, you gotta see this”!

Here We Go

Let’s start at the beginning. Last week I was at a dinner with friends and while we all work in different industries, the global implications of artificial intelligence came up, and the conversation went from good to great. People talked about what they knew, what they heard, and what they wanted. Then one person said, “have you tried that new Google notebook app? I use it all the time”. The app had been available for 2 weeks at that time. I knew about it but had not investigated, so I made a mental note to check it out.

I Wasn’t Ready

A few days later, I was about to close my laptop after working all day, then I remembered the app. I googled “NotebookLM” and like magic— there it was. After scanning the introductory message, I entered the app very unassuming. It’s just another AI app, right? WRONG!

I uploaded the pdf for my last article in my LinkedIn Newsletter: “How Constructive Feedback Can Make You a Rockstar “. In a couple of seconds I had this summary:

Then the app provided several options for formatting the information: FAQ (frequently asked questions), study guide, timeline, briefing doc, and table of contents. I chose the study guide to see what it would look like. Here is the result:

The study guide format provides questions, answers, and a glossary of key terms. Currently there is not a download option for these collaterals but you can copy and paste in your own Word or text-based application.

The formatted output is a timesaver and structures the information based on what data are available. I have some recommendations for making the format feature more user friendly like allowing the format to be downloaded in a text document that is editable. Also, being able to expand the format’s view to full page would be helpful, but these are not dealbreakers.

Note: Please use your discretion for what data you provide to any application.

Learning Euphoria Downloading…

Still not yet impressed by the app, I clicked on “notebook guide”, which contains the audio feature called a "deep dive conversation". It gave me a podcast of my article in 2 minutes! Wait, there are two people (or AIs) having a conversation about my article?! (mind-blown emoji)

This is when curiosity went to extreme levels of excitement: The AIs were having an amazing time chatting about my article and sharing insights about their experiences with constructive feedback! The AIs were entertaining, energetic, witty, relatable, intelligent, and informative. As I sat there linking web articles, pasting text, or uploading documents and listening to the document-converted podcasts , the reality hit me that learning just got a serious makeover! I have a new app crush and it keeps getting better, I’ll tell you more, but you can listen to the podcast it created here.

Technical Notes

Before I go deeper into my reaction to the app, I want to share some highlights for what this is exactly. Currently a free tool, Google’s NotebookLM is described as a research assistant using their Gemini 1.5 Pro LLM (large language model) with RAG (retrieval augmented generation). It supports 35 languages, each source can contain up to 500,000 words, and each notebook can contain up to 50 sources that cites the sources for the information. The chat history will not persist between sessions (thanks to Intelligent Content Academy for the tutorial).

Learning Makeover

After playing with this app for a couple of hours and calling friends to get their reactions (which was the same as mine), I knew I had to write a blog about this. One friend texted me, “Girl this thing is crazy!! ????”. She meant that in a good way. When I saw her text, I knew she was feeling the same emotions as me. Another friend told me that this solves a dilemma with a project he had been working on for a few years. Go figure!

If you have not tried it yet, I have a few observations to share. Google labels this app as experimental but I can’t fathom right now how this is going to change in the coming months. For me, this is app is not an MVP (minimum viable product) but rather an SLC (simple, lovable, complete). I could go on using it as is with no enhancements.

Even more interesting, the algorithm is such that it does not output the same results twice. Further, the AI’s output is based on the type of information you share. From what my friends and I experienced, there are several use cases I have personally seen. I can only imagine that there are hundreds more (if not thousands).

The Impact on?Learning

We explored with various documents, not realizing the following use cases would result:

• Resume critique?—?My friend uploaded her resume to see how the app would respond. Using the notebook guide feature, the podcast was a critique of her experiences and what the AIs thought about her career journey.
• Business plan review — It reviewed a fictitious business plan and analyzed the different aspects, assessed the services, even the billing plan. One interesting point was how it also assessed it from a regional and global aspect as well as how the services may change in the future.
• Multiple articles synthesized?—?I uploaded several of my blog articles and found that the AI enhanced the context of the topics with insights that could become a series for the overarching topic. It called my article a book, which is incorrect, but then again, I should write another book.
• Brainstorm session?—?Another friend uploaded notes about a project she wanted to start but was unclear about how to proceed. The AIs made sense out of it, with the audio feature pointing out the concerns she had, and validating some concerns about what she wanted vs. what was being asked of her.
• Career biography analysis?—?Using a 15-year career biography for an executive, in the podcast the AIs discussed the person’s career trajectory and the decisions they made along the way that aligned them with a certain domain.

The “humaness” of the AIs makes listening to the audio enjoyable. They inject witty and crafty statements at the right time. I found myself anticipating what it was going to say next that would make me laugh or think deeply.

For the podcast, regardless of the topic, the AIs have a pattern that it applies and makes the audio engaging and informative:

• Conversational?—?Immediately you are taken off guard with the warm and conversational tones the AIs present as it starts with light banter.
• Curious?—?Right after the banter, tbe AIs become curious about the topic using exploratory language about what it is they are about to engage in.
• Contextual?—?Then comes the context as it dissects the topic and makes a determination for the path it will take for the discussion.
• Candid?—?The meta-analysis includes the AI’s personal experiences that are almost believable until you remember it’s a machine. For instance, in the career podcast, the female AI said she wanted to be a veterinarian but found out she was afraid of blood. Candid comments with voice inflections at the right times will make you think two humans are talking, which brings your data to life.
• Complex?—?As an academic, this is the part that was a pleasant surprise. The AIs used logic intelligently for how they approached the topic, and they made the complexity in the subject clear without watering down the details.
• Comedic?—?Who knew AI could be funny in a subtle way? This quality can take a topic from rigid to engaging which is necessary for learning.

NOTE: Some statements the AIs made were slightly off target for what I know about the topics. I did not experience any crazy hallucinations, but still, we have to be mindful that there could be information included that is not completely accurate for the context or it’s just incorrect.

My NotebookLM dashboard

Looking at the app holistically, here is how learning just got a serious makeover using NotebookLM. With an overview summary, various formatted outputs to choose from, question prompts, chat feature, and most notably, the notebook audio or podcast, all combined in a seamless user interface, this app provides a layered learning journey.

Imagine what you can digest more easily using this setup. I introduced NotebookLM to my son (high schooler) and now I can’t wait to see his response. I hope my reaction to this app was helpful. Until next time, whatever you do, keep learning!

~Stacey

Stacey Young Rivers, Ph.D. is a talent development leader with expertise in developing strategies to close skills gaps, build talent pipelines, and create internal career mobility models. Dr. Rivers is also a mom, author, and researcher.