Google’s Learn About AI experience looks like a slimmed-down laptopLM

Google offers a ton of AI tools, and if you’re trying to learn more about something or study, NotebookLM might be your first thought. It’s powerful, more truth-based since it only uses the sources you provide and can transform your sources into different outputs like podcasts and mind maps. But what if you don’t have sources on the topic you want to learn, or you don’t need NotebookLM’s features? Well, Google also has an AI tool designed specifically for this. It’s called Learn More.

Learn About is an AI experience that does exactly what you think. It is a conversational learning tool that allows you to learn about new topics in an easy and streamlined way. Like NotebookLM, you can upload a document and Learn About will break it down for you. Unlike NotebookLM, you can simply type the topic you want to learn in the search box and it will work. This is not limited to the sources you provide.

The Learn About output gives you a simplified list of different information. It almost looks like Wikipedia. As you would expect, you’ll get blocks of text with relevant information and photos, but there will also be interactive lists you can click on for additional details. You will see sections to “build your vocabulary” on a particular topic. If he finds a relevant YouTube video, it may also appear in the mix.

If you’re just starting out on a topic, you probably don’t know what you don’t know. Learn About recognizes this and will also have sections that ask questions you might not have thought to ask for deeper learning.

Learning more can also reveal common misconceptions about your topic. While trying the tool, I wanted to know more about the Great Sphinx, and it showed the misconception that the nose of the Sphinx was torn off by Napoleon’s soldiers, with a correction that it was probably damaged centuries before Napoleon’s time. As with most information provided by Learn About, it will also tell you the sources from which it obtained this information.

At the bottom of each section, Learn About encourages deeper learning by offering three buttons to simplify the topic, explore it more deeply, or display images.

To help you keep track of what you’ve learned, there’s a section on the left side of the screen that will show you “an overview” of your topic, but also any items you’ve clicked on in the interactive lists provided, so you can dive back in if you need a refresher. Since my use, this is the only item that appears in this section when I click on it.

Those of you looking for a dedicated Learn About app might be a little disappointed, but you shouldn’t be. Unlike NotebookLM, Learn About is all about consuming the content it provides, not creating something new, like a video preview of your sources. It is easily accessible via a mobile browser and scales perfectly to smaller screens.

Like almost everything Google does, your chat history should be stored for easy access when you return, but that wasn’t the case when I tried to access my Sphinx chat from my phone. And when I refreshed my computer’s browser page, the conversation was gone. While this is frustrating, it still qualifies as an experiment at the moment. Another limitation I encountered was when trying to access Learn About from my iPad Pro. On Chrome and Brave, I was greeted with a pop-up stating that Learn About is currently not supported on tablets, but that wasn’t the case when I tried it on the Safari browser.

Despite the problems I encountered, there is a lot to like about Learn About. It’s not too complicated and it doesn’t try to be something that isn’t. This is a simplified way to learn topics in a conversational way, which could be ideal for students or anyone curious about learning something new.

Blake has over a decade of experience writing for the web, focusing on mobile, where he covered the smartphone boom of the 2010s and the broader tech scene. When he’s not at a keyboard, you’ll likely find him playing video games or watching horror movies. See full bio