When to use one and when to use the other (and why they are not the same)

Let’s tell you the differences and when to use NotebookLM or Geminiso that you are clear about the purposes of each of these two platforms. This way, you will be able to know the main functions, what their differentiating characteristics are, and when to choose each of them.

Because yes, Google has two powerful artificial intelligence tools, but NotebookLM and Gemini They are not the same, and they neither serve the same purpose nor are they designed to be used for the same purpose. That can make deciding between one or the other somewhat confusing if you don’t understand much about AI, and that’s why we’re going to help you differentiate them.

We are going to start the article with a comparative table with which you will be able to see at once all the differences there are in concept and functions of both tools. Afterwards, we will write these differences for you so that you understand them, and we will end by explaining to you when it is useful to use one, the other, or even both at the same time.

NotebookLM vs Gemini, comparison

The key difference between these tools is that Gemini is a general purpose AI assistantas are other alternatives such as ChatGPT or Claude. You can ask him any question you want. While, NotebookLM is a tool to work with your own documentsand will only respond based on them.

Therefore, what differentiates the two is where they get the information from. Gemini pulls it from the Internet and its knowledge base, and NotebookLM pulls it only from the files you upload to each notebook you’ve created. One is used to ask what you want about what you want, and another to interact with the content that you upload.

What is Gemini and what is it for?

Gemini is Google’s artificial intelligence assistant. You can talk to him about anything, from asking questions to asking him to write you an email, solving problems, finding travel itineraries, or generating images or videos.

When you make a request, Gemini will search your content base and the Internetand then with this data it will generate the response. It is especially useful because it is integrated into the Google ecosystem, being able to connect it with Gmail, Docs or Maps to manage emails, appointments or routes. If you use all Google services, then it is normal that Gemini helps you enhance them.

Therefore, Gemini is perfect for ask general questions and ask you to perform tasks related to content creation in general. You can search for any type of information, ask for recommendations, make product comparisons or simply have a conversation about whatever you want. ​

What is NotebookLM and what is it for?

NotebookLM is not an AI assistant, but a tool created to work with your documents and use Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence model to ask questions related to it. Therefore, it is not a Gemini chat, but rather a tool that uses this AI for tasks in a controlled environment.

So, while Gemini responds to you based on information from all over the Internet, NotebookLM responds to you based solely on the files you attach. So, if you ask it to explain something to you, it will only use the uploaded files to do so. The files can be PDFs, audios, web pages, drive documents or even YouTube videos.

You can ask Gemini to work explaining something about a specific file, but it does not do so in a closed environment, and there is always the possibility that it completes the information on the Internet. In NotebookLM you do not connect to the Internet. The results it generates can be texts, but You can also create an audio podcastalways based on the content you upload.

When to use each

Now let’s go summarize when to use each of these tools. Because they are totally different, so depending on what you want to achieve, it will be more useful to use one or the other.

When to use Gemini:

• When you want to look for information from the real world, search the Internet, compare options, find out news, or ask about something that you do not have documented.
• When you want AI to manage the content of your Google applications, such as your emails, your Calendar agenda, your Doc documents. You want to plan routes with Maps.
• When you want to generate new content, such as a piece of writing (email, article, script, code) or an image.
• When you want to do several different things in a conversation, without having to organize the content in a notebook or upload sources.

When to use NotebookLM:

• When you want to analyze your own documents accurately and without them being mixed with Internet content. It can be a contract, a report, a book, your course notes and anything else.
• When you want to study or prepare for an exam. You can upload your notes, a book or a syllabus, and you can ask them to ask you multiple choice questions or explain things to you. It will only be based on what you upload.
• When you want to convert documents into podcasts, because NotebookLM will generate audio in which two voices debate the content you upload. Perfect for reviewing topics while you do other things.
• When you want to work with confidential information. Because as it only uses sources without mixing them with external data, these documents do not fill in gaps with information from the Internet that can “dirty” your content.

When to use both at the same time

Finally you should know that these are two different tools not mutually exclusive. So there may be workflows where it makes sense to use both tools.

For example, to make a query you may use Gemini to find or generate informationsuch as articles, drafts, or collecting data. Then, if you want to work with that information independently, you can upload it to a NotebookLM notebook to analyze it in depth.

For example, imagine that you want to take a trip to a city. You can ask Gemini to find links to official or reputable guides to that city, search for long-length videos or reports. Then, then you upload those URLs or videos as a source to a notebook from NotebookLM, and you ask it to generate an itinerary for a trip based solely on this information. It will be as if you had created a specialized AI for the tripand you can also ask any other related questions.

The simplest summary possible

As a summary, you can keep the idea that Gemini is an assistant for your daily life. You can ask it any question about the world, ask it to generate text for you based on content and knowledge from all over the Internet.

While, NotebookLM lets you make your own specialized AI based solely and exclusively on the sources that you add, which can be videos, audios or texts. So, for anything you ask it, its only knowledge base will be the data you have provided.

Therefore, they are complementary tools, you don’t need to use one or the other. Knowing what each one is for will help you work in a more specific and faster way depending on your needs.

In Xataka Basics | How to create a specialized AI for your next trip with NotebookLM: plan itineraries and answer your questions