My blog unexpectedly has found more than 3 readers.
And only Africa seems to be the "white continent".
So, I should explain how I use AI responsibly, as a nearly 70 year old. Here, I will explain my use of Google´s free NotebookLM.
I assume that process is just basic and primitive stuff for many, way too under-automated.
But for some reader may be interesting, if you like research but haven´t used NotebookLM or a similar tool (there are quite a few - but they cost money).
About NotebookLM
Hey I am not going to re-invent the wheel by explaining notebookLM...I was made aware through this guy. He fascinated me, so he may fascinate you.
The goal: share a book summary
Some readers of my blog are interested in Daniel P Brown. I wanted an overview into two related Dzogchen classics that had influenced his work:
Pith instructions for A Khrid Dzog Chen
Self-Arising Threefold Embodiment of Enlightenment of Bon Dzog Chen Meditation
Here is the overview as blog post.
First part of blog post: personal view
I wrote the first part manually, occasionally supported by Deepl to improve my writing as a non-native speaker/writer of English.
Second part of blog post: AI generated summaries
For this part, why should I spend hours and days writing something that AI can do faster and better?
So, I used Google´s NotebookLM to generate the summary. But, to get there, more was necessary. Below, the full toolset that I normally use.
Tools involved
Tool | Description |
Amazon | In this case, I bought both books on Amazon. Obviously I can use other sources too (anything) |
Used for: manual writing. A translation and writing improvement tool that I have subscribed to (7 euro/month). This is for spell-checking etc. | |
Used for: audio transcription. An I that I use (when needed) to transcribe audio or video (not used in this case). It uses the AI "Whisper" with its faultless transcriptions . I downloaded the core Whisper AI to my PC to save 20 euro/month but so far turboscribe is just too convenient through its interace. | |
Used for: writing and text management. A free authoring tool that is amazingly good at organising and extrating text (I use it like a combination of "CMS" - content management tool - and writing tool for books) | |
Used for: document formatconversions. A free downloadable tool for book management. I use it mainly to convert text between different formats. Instead, one can use free online tools. | |
Used for: research and summaries. Google free AI for research | |
used for: blogging. Currently my blogging tool. May not be optimal, I should perhaps go to Medium or so. Too expensive for the use. | |
For illustrations |
The production process
So these were the steps I went through.
Step | Description |
Enable NotebookLM (one-off) | It´s free, just chose, but I needed a VPN to make it work in Germany |
Download book/sources | This is just one possible source. Also, this is only possible if downloading the book locally is allowed for the book. Most don´t allow it - sadly. This is why I may buy elsewhere in future. |
Convert book | I can´t load ePUB into NotebookLM, so it needs to be converted to txt, pdf, docx. For this, I use Calibre |
Store books | Store the .docx in Scrivener. I do this so that i can (for example) split the text up into intro and the rest, or into separate chapters as in the original book. |
Extract text | Extract all or parts of the book as .txt file for upload to NotebookLM |
Upload text | Upload to NotebookLM into a "notebook". This could be a separate notebook for the book, or the author, or a notebook combining several books etc. |
Request summaries | Ask for whatever output I want (eg. comparisons, summaries). This may need an iterative approach until I asked the right question at the right level of detail. |
Copy/paste | as the name sais ... |
Proof read | Perhaps already done at step "request summaries", but in generall all AI text should be read to figure out possible errors |
Final format | Embellish the format |
Add graphics | Using Easil, create a graphic |
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