Google’s flagship learning tool just got a little bit better.
NotebookLM is clearly important to Google’s AI strategy, and that is evident thanks to the breakneck pace at which the tool gains new features. For reference, the tool’s standout Audio Overviews feature gained video support back in late July, followed by new voices and tones for the feature in September.
Now, Google is rolling out more changes — changes meant to make NotebookLM fundamentally smarter and more powerful.
For starters, the tool just received back-end improvements that should boost performance, quality, and the tool’s overall contextual understanding.
This was done by bringing Gemini’s full one million token context window into NotebookLM’s chat. This applies to all plans, and, according to Google, improves the tool’s performance by allowing it to analyze large document collections at once. “Plus, we’ve increased our capacity for multiturn conversation more than sixfold, so you can get more coherent and relevant results over extended interactions,” wrote the tech giant.
Elsewhere, the tech giant has also reportedly “enhanced how NotebookLM finds information in your sources.” NotebookLM will now start exploring your sources from multiple angles, essentially going beyond your initial prompt to form a nuanced response.
Additionally, your NotebookLM conversations will now be automatically saved. Users can now close a session at any time and resume it later without losing their conversation history. Chat history can be deleted at any time, plus your own chat history within shared notebooks will only be visible to you. These changes will start rolling out to users over the next week.
Lastly, and most importantly, NotebookLM users should now be able to personalize their chats with specific goals. This can include telling the tool to adopt a specific goal, voice, or role, “ranging from a PhD student analyzing sources to a creative storyteller exploring ideas.”
Need some inspiration? The tech giant shared examples of prompts you might want to try out:
- Treat me like a PhD candidate: This will make sure that the tool rigorously challenges every assumption and forces the user to defend their work.
- Act as a lead marketing strategist: This makes sure that the tool provides an immediate action plan, and that its responses are analytical and direct.
- Analyze the provided material from three distinct perspectives: This prompt ensures that the tool analyzes information from different angles, including angles like strict academic, a creative strategist, and a skeptical reviewer.‘
- Act as a Game Master for a text-based simulation: This will prompt NotebookLM to “present a high-stakes scenario with a specific goal and a step limit (e.g., 10). I make all the choices. Narrate the outcomes vividly, using realistic, scenario-relevant details.”
