As someone juggling research, reading, and writing deadlines, I often find myself buried under academic PDFs and notes I can barely remember naming. So when I first heard of Google's NotebookLM, I thought it might be another flashy AI tool making big promises. I already had ChatGPT and Gemini to help me analyse documents – why try something new?

But after putting it through a real test – uploading one of the most influential economics papers of all time, authored by three Nobel laureates, "The colonial origins of comparative development" – I discovered that NotebookLM is not just useful. It is genuinely empowering.

Here is what I found after using NotebookLM as a student – and why it might become your best friend for classes, papers, and everything in between.

So, what is NotebookLM?

NotebookLM is a research and note-taking tool powered by Google's Gemini AI. Unlike general chatbots, it is designed to work only with the documents you upload. This means it does not pull information from across the internet. Instead, it helps you make sense of your own materials – which, in my case, was this long economics paper.

Straightforward, friendly UI

I began by uploading the PDF to NotebookLM and was surprised at how simple the setup was. No complicated onboarding. Just a "Create notebook" button, followed by uploading your files. Within seconds, the paper was fully integrated into a searchable, interactive workspace.

You can organise notebooks by course, project, or topic – a blessing for those of us dealing with multiple overlapping deadlines. NotebookLM accepts up to 50 documents in one notebook, which is far more than Gemini's 10-document limit for uploads. That alone gave me room to breathe.

From static PDF to dynamic dialogue

Here is where NotebookLM won me over. Instead of skimming through a 33-page economics paper trying to recall which section had the argument about settler mortality and institutions, I simply typed a question: "What is the main hypothesis of the paper?"

NotebookLM returned a crisp summary: the authors argue that colonialism shaped institutions, and those institutions continue to influence development outcomes today. What impressed me more was the clarity of the response. It was accurate, direct, and referenced the right part of the document.

That changed how I interact with my reading list. It was not just about summarising like ChatGPT or Gemini do – it felt like having a knowledgeable study partner who had read every page more closely than I ever could.

Study guides

One of my favourite features is the ability to generate study guides or briefing documents with a single click. After uploading the paper, I asked NotebookLM to create a study guide, for which there is a separate button which takes just a single click. It produced a clear outline – including possible quiz questions with answer keys, essay format questions, and glossaries – all sourced directly from the document.

Did I mention that the tool supports over 50 languages — including Bangla? It does. When I switched the output language to Bangla, it delivered a surprisingly solid summary of the findings. It was not quite as sharp or nuanced as the English version, but still accurate and easy to follow.

For anyone preparing for an exam, this is gold. The summary gave me just enough to grasp the key arguments without overwhelming me. It is the kind of scaffolding that helps build deeper understanding.

Tone, depth, and flexibility

While many AI tools spit out answers in the same voice, NotebookLM lets you customise tone and length. You can ask for a detailed analysis, a short answer, or even a guide in a specific tone – professional, informal, or even tailored for beginners. These options are available in the premium version, but even the free plan offers more than enough.

For instance, I asked for a simplified version of the central thesis as if explaining to someone with no background in economics. The result? A friendly, easy-to-understand explanation, yet still rooted in the original document.

Audio overviews

I admit, I was sceptical about the audio overviews. I had tried AI-generated voices before and they sounded like robots with sore throats. But the NotebookLM's version surprised me. Two hosts – one male, one female – summarise your uploaded content in a podcast-style conversation. They adapt their tone based on the topic. In my case, they sounded thoughtful and engaged as they discussed institutional development and colonial history.

The podcast it provided me was about 30-minutes long, and in English – but I decided to give it a twist – to try it in Bangla as well.

When I opted for an audio overview in Bangla, it provided me with a 10-minutes long podcast – two hosts – similar to the English one – discussing the core ideas of the paper. The speech was not entirely natural, but I was convinced enough to call it a podcast.

While it will not replace your favourite podcast, it offers a different way to absorb dense content. I found it particularly useful when I was stuck in Dhaka's notorious traffic – of course with a pair of noise cancelling headphones – reviewing key ideas without reading a single word.

Ideal, but not without flaws

Of course, NotebookLM is not perfect. Sometimes it misses nuance in arguments or oversimplifies. It is also not ideal for heavily mathematical content or tables. You need to be careful not to always take its outputs at face value without checking the source material. But as a study assistant, it gets you 80 percent of the way there – and does so in a fraction of the time.

After spending time with NotebookLM, I can safely say this: it is the AI tool I did not know I needed. It made one of the most complex academic texts I have ever read more accessible. And that is what university-going students need – not magic, not fluff, just tools that remove friction from learning.

Whether you are working on your thesis, preparing for a debate, or just trying to understand a particularly dense article, NotebookLM gives you an edge. And for now, it remains free to use – both on the web and through its Android and iOS apps.

If you are a student reading this and feeling overwhelmed by your workload, try uploading just one paper, or a chapter from your textbooks you find intimidating. Let NotebookLM break it down, talk you through it, or summarise the key bits. Like me, you might find yourself wondering how you ever studied without it.