Google's Gemini Notebook app now lets you query books
Google's Gemini Notebook adds an Expert Intelligence feature, letting users pull data from over 100,000 purchased books to interact with AI.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Gemini Notebook introduces the Expert Intelligence feature to pull data from purchased books
- Supports over 100,000 books from major publishers and features custom notebooks from authors
- Includes privacy protections that block users who haven't purchased a book from viewing its full text
- Plans to expand to AI Mode in Search, the Gemini app, and scholarly articles in the future
Google has updated its AI note-taking application, Gemini Notebook, with a new capability called Expert Intelligence, allowing users to pull information directly from books purchased on Google Play Books to interact with the artificial intelligence.
This feature enables users to ask questions about the material inside a book, as well as generate plans, infographics, and AI-powered podcasts based on its contents. During a briefing with The Verge, Google Labs editorial director Steven Johnson demonstrated how the tool can generate a recipe book using Michael Pollan’s Food Rules and apply management knowledge from Kim Scott’s Radical Candor to answer questions about handling difficult conversations with employees. Users can also view the full text of the book directly within Notebook.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
At launch, more than 100,000 books from publishers including Penguin Random House, Johns Hopkins University Press, Macmillan Publishers, and O’Reilly Media will support Expert Intelligence. Furthermore, Google collaborated with 15 authors, such as Pollan, Scott, Steven Pinker, and Jennifer Wallace, to create Featured Notebooks customized with additional source material and intro letters. Titles supporting this capability will display a Gemini Notebook listing under the Tools badge in Google Play Books.
“I’m really interested in the idea of building a collection of people whose work you really value, and kind of creating your own dream team of advisors that are just available to you wherever you go,”
To address copyright concerns, Google built built-in protections preventing users from accessing material from books they have not purchased. If a shared Notebook includes a purchased book, recipients who do not own the title will see it listed strictly as a source without access to the full text or related details. Clicking the source redirects users to Google Play Books to purchase the title.
The introduction of Expert Intelligence marks a strategic move by Google to bridge generative AI with digital publishing and intellectual property rights. By restricting full text access exclusively to verified purchasers, Google creates a compliant ecosystem that establishes new revenue channels for authors and publishers through AI interaction.
Looking ahead, Google plans to bring this functionality to AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app, alongside future expansions to support scholarly articles, magazine pieces, and newspapers, according to Johnson.
Source: The Verge
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