- Google introduces featured notebooks into NotebookLM
- The curated content comes from sites like The Economist and The Atlantic
- You can ask questions about each notebook
Tired of waiting for you to use NotebookLM to make fantastic learning resources of your own, Google has decided to take matters into its own hands and produced a series of carefully curated Notebooks from respected authors, researchers, publications, and nonprofits, including The Economist and The Atlantic.
With NotebookLM, you can read the original source material, but also pose questions to a chatbot that’s versed in the material, so you can explore specific topics in greater depth.
And of course, you can listen to the AI-generated audio overviews, which sound like podcasts, that NotebookLM is famous for, or explore the newer Mind Maps feature.
The initial lineup of curated notebooks includes longevity advice from Eric Topol, bestselling author of Super Agers, expert analysis and predictions for the year 2025 as shared in The World Ahead annual report by The Economist, and an advice notebook based on bestselling author Arthur C. Brooks’ How to Build A Life columns in The Atlantic.
As if that wasn’t enough, they’re throwing in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare for anybody who needs help exploring the works of the Bard.
You can expect the list of featured notebooks to grow, too. Google says it will continue to introduce new featured notebooks, including additional collections from its partnerships with The Economist and The Atlantic.
The books of the future
Google says that since introducing the ability to share notebooks last month, ”more than 140,000 public notebooks have been created, on a wide range of topics”.
I find these featured notebooks dangerous myself because each one is a little rabbit hole I can happily disappear down for over an hour.
For example, I opened the How to Build a Life notebook based on Arthur Brooks’ columns in The Atlantic and asked it what age was best to buy a house, and I didn’t emerge for another hour!
It’s a different experience from reading a book, as you’re constantly switching to an interactive way of consuming media, which makes the learning so much more fun.
Commenting on the new featured notebooks Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic said, “The books of the future won’t just be static: some will talk to you, some will evolve with you, and some will exist in forms we can’t imagine now. We’re delighted to partner with Google in its pioneering work on this front.”
