Why I Don’t Use NotebookLM’s Deep Dive Tool (and Why You Shouldn’t, Either)
I often use Google’s NotebookLM , an AI-powered tool that works similarly to ChatGPT and other LLM programs, but only uses the sources and materials the user enters. A few days ago, I noticed a new feature: it’s divided into “quick research” and “deep research.”
After experimenting with NotebookLM for a bit, I’ve come to the conclusion that these new features completely defeat the purpose for which I originally started using NotebookLM—with one big exception.
What do the new “quick research” and “deep research” options do in NotebookLM?
In short, “quick research” and “deep research” make NotebookLM work a lot like other AI tools—they mine the web on your behalf—and that’s the main reason I don’t see the point in using them.
When using the in-depth research tool, you enter your research topic in the left panel, which typically stores all the PDFs, links, and other materials you’ve manually entered as sources for NotebookLM. This is a departure from the original principle on which NotebookLM was built: the program searches for sources online, expanding the selection of materials for the quizzes, podcasts, notes , and flashcards you create. Before this update, searching and entering sources was entirely up to you.
The quick search tool works similarly. Instead of searching for sources and generating a detailed report, it simply suggests several new sources for consideration.
Whether you use deep or quick research mode, you can deselect sources if you don’t like them, but browsing them is difficult. I tried this on a notebook I set up to study for an upcoming personal training certification exam. It displayed a selection of titles, such as “Free NASM Practice Test,” shown above on the left. I had to click the “7 More References” link to expand the panel. This revealed where the sources came from, and I could open them in a new tab to review them before agreeing to import them (shown on the right).
Finding and evaluating sources myself is a crucial first step in my learning and brainstorming process, so I don’t see the point in using it. I like NotebookLM because it doesn’t do all the work for me. I still have the responsibility of finding all the necessary sources and entering them so it can help me synthesize content. I use it for studying, work, and organizing personal projects. None of this benefits from random external sources. And, as is often the case with all AI tools, there’s no guarantee it will find reliable sources (then again, it found me a Reddit thread that I could have easily found myself).
The only useful new feature in the NotebookLM update
When you enter a topic you want NotebookLM to research, you’ll see a drop-down menu. It’s automatically set to “Web,” meaning NotebookLM will use online sources, but you can also configure it to search through Google Drive. This is convenient. I keep everything related to all my projects in separate Drive folders. This feature helps me add all the necessary materials as needed, rather than manually adding them one by one. This is the kind of tool I’ve been using with NotebookLM for the past few months.