The Story of How I Used NotebookLM for Things Other Than My Main Job and Found It Surprisingly Deep

Hello everyone, this is Ponzu.

I get the impression that more people are using Google's NotebookLM for work. But if someone asks, "Can you use it for things other than work?" don't you find yourself a bit stuck for an answer?

I first tried it out for creating slides for my side hustle, but as I used it, I increasingly felt that its range of application was wider than I had expected.

In this post, I will honestly summarize what I realized after using NotebookLM extensively for my side hustle and personal life.

First, I tried it for creating slides

Since I have done slide creation as a side hustle, the first thing I tried with NotebookLM was related to slides.

I uploaded several documents and had it generate an outline. Honestly, I was impressed that it could produce decent-looking slides with just one click.

However, this is where something started to bother me.

Since the release of NanoBanana Pro in November 2025, X has been flooded with diagrams and slides that feel very "AI-generated." The illustrations, color schemes, and intense text tones—there are many that you can tell at a glance are AI-made.

What I am aiming for are more business-like slides. Conversely, I think there is still a business opportunity for people who can create slides that don't feel like they were made by AI.

Using it to create eye-catching images

Beyond slides, something I thought was great was infographics. These have the potential to serve as substitutes for eye-catching images.

Eye-catching images for notes or X posts take up a surprising amount of time, don't they? If you have NotebookLM read the content of your article and ask, "What direction should the eye-catching image take to match the main points of this article?" it becomes easier to produce something that doesn't deviate from the article's content.

Since you can use your own article data as a source, it was easy not having to think from scratch every time.

How NotebookLM is different from regular AI

Here, I'd like to briefly organize the features of NotebookLM.

Regular chat AIs generate answers from a vast amount of pre-learned data. While convenient, it's not uncommon to wonder, "Where did that information come from?"

NotebookLM is a tool that answers based only on the materials you upload. Whether it's a PDF, a website, or a YouTube video, it answers by looking only at the sources you have selected.

Google calls this "grounding," which is essentially the idea of "limiting the basis of the answer to your own data."

In my understanding, "a tool that lets you create your own personal knowledge base" is the most fitting description. Since you can check the sources with a single click, it's also helpful that verifying the information is easy.

Situations where I actually use it

Beyond slides and eye-catching images, my personal use cases for it have been expanding recently.

One is studying for certification exams. When you upload a textbook to NotebookLM, it automatically creates quizzes and flashcards to check your understanding. As a father of four in his late 40s, my time at a desk is limited, so this is quietly appreciated.

I also find the audio overview feature very useful. It converts the materials you upload into a podcast format where two AIs discuss the content. Since I can do "while-doing" learning during my commute or while doing chores, I no longer have to carve out new time for input.

If it were me from six months ago, I think I would have stopped at "AI just means ChatGPT." But after actually trying it out, I realized that NotebookLM's accuracy for "research" is on a different level, and that there is a real point to using different tools for different purposes.

Well, my main partner is still Claude, though.

Why not start by trying it out like this?

NotebookLM is free to use, so I recommend just giving it a casual try first.

For example, why not start with a use case like this?

Upload just one document you use for work and ask it, "Summarize the main points of this document into three items." I think you will be able to feel the difference from regular chat AIs immediately.

If you want to go a bit further, it's also interesting to upload an explanatory YouTube video and have it create a table of contents. You can see at a glance "where and what is being discussed" in a long video, which also saves time.

One point of caution is that NotebookLM only looks at the "data you provide." If you need the latest information, it takes the extra step of adding a website URL as a source. This might be a point where you need to distinguish how you use it compared to a regular chat AI.

Summary

NotebookLM is often thought of as a tool only for work, but it turned out to be a tool with a wide range of applications for side jobs and personal life as well.

The sense of security that it only uses your own data as a basis, and the feeling of expanding its use to slides, eye-catching images, exam study, and "while-doing" learning, is something you won't understand until you try it.

There is no need to limit yourself to just one AI tool, and for now, using them differently depending on the situation might be the correct answer.

Well then, I'll be off.🐧