Google NotebookLM can find relevant resources on its own

If you haven't heard of NotebookLM, you can read a guide on our website about a very useful tool for creating content with artificial intelligence (AI). Until now, NotebookLM worked by extracting content only from sources that you "served" to it by manually uploading them. These could be various documents, links to YouTube, and the like.

Google recently added a new feature to NotebookLM that allows it to search for online resources for summaries and narratives. Users can now tap the “Discover” button and simply describe a topic they want to better understand. NotebookLM then gathers online resources on the desired topic and responds (much like all AI chatbots).

Google says the new feature will be available to all users within a week.

NotebookLM will be able to search “hundreds of potential online sources” in seconds, analyze the most relevant data, and then present a list of up to ten recommendations, each with a summary explaining its relevance. Users can choose which of these sources NotebookLM should reference and import them for use in other features, including FAQs, short documents, and podcast-like audio reviews that use AI hosts to discuss the topic.

The sources will be stored in NotebookLM so that users can read them directly and use them as references for citations, notes, and answering questions. Google says that the Discover feature is the first of several features that Google has developed specifically for NotebookLM using Gemini AI. They wanted to make it easier for users to find relevant sources, and they have succeeded.

There's also an "I'm Feeling Curious" button that prompts NotebookLM to search for resources on a completely random topic. This is a good way to see what the feature can do, as well as a fun way to learn about new topics.