Is NotebookLM—Google’s Research Assistant—the Ultimate Tool for Thought? - Ep.22 with Steven Johnson

We use it to find bestselling author Steven Berlin Johnson’s next project. I sat down with bestselling author Steven Johnson to see if we could come up with a concept for his next project—using AI. The results were amazing. We loaded 200,000 words of NASA transcripts and all of Steven’s reading notes since 1999 into NotebookLM, Google’s personalized research assistant. We wanted to see if it could help us explore the Apollo 1 fire and find relevant and surprising ideas from history that could work to explain it. - NotebookLM condensed disparate 200,000 words of NASA transcripts into readable formats like FAQs and chronological timelines. - It sifted through the material to identify the catalyst for the fire. - The model even went through Steven’s Readwise notes to find a relevant, and unexpected, story from history that we could use to explain the history and origins of the fire If you’re a fan of Steven Johnson’s work or you’re interested in AI as a creative tool, you need to watch this episode. All of this happens as a live exploration of NotebookLM, and it’s a seriously wild ride. If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! Want even more? Sign up for Every to unlock our ultimate guide to prompting ChatGPT here: https://every.ck.page/ultimate-guide-to-prompting-chatgpt. It’s usually only for paying subscribers, but you can get it here for free. To hear more from Dan Shipper: Subscribe to Every: https://every.to/subscribe Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/danshipper Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Teaser 00:00:53 - Introduction 00:04:47 - The roots of Steven’s obsession with organizing ideas 00:08:16 - Steven’s belief in being receptive to organic connections 00:11:16 - NotebookLM’s northstar 00:14:02 - How GoogleLab’s note-taking app respects copyright law 00:16:17 - Using NotebookLM to analyze highlights from books that Steven has read 00:19:02 - Steven’s personal approach to curating valuable information 00:21:51 - Why NotebookLM shows restraint when it is asked to speculate 00:29:13 - Using the model to co-create the beginnings of a documentary 00:52:54 - NotebookLM generates the opening script Links to resources mentioned in the episode: Steven Johnson: https://twitter.com/stevenbjohnson NotebookLM: https://notebooklm.google.com/ Steven’s newsletter, Adjacent Possible: https://adjacentpossible.substack.com/about Steven’s latest book about the rise of the modern detective, The Infernal Machine: https://www.amazon.com/Infernal-Machine-Dynamite-Terror-Detective-ebook/dp/B0CD71SZ7Z A few of Steven’s other books: How We Got to Now: https://www.amazon.com/How-We-Got-Now-Innovations/dp/1594633932 Where Good Ideas Come From: https://www.amazon.com/Where-Good-Ideas-Come-Innovation/dp/1594485380 The Ghost Map: https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Map-Londons-Terrifying-Epidemic/dp/1594482691 Emergence: https://www.amazon.com/Emergence-Connected-Brains-Cities-Software/dp/0684868768 The Invention of Air: https://www.amazon.com/Invention-Air-Science-Revolution-America/dp/1594484015