Google's AI-powered research assistant, NotebookLM, is among the best examples of how AI can make reading, studying, and researching a lot easier. Though the tool has multiple features like Audio Overviews and Mind Maps, a simple feature stands out the most — the ability to upload your documents and interact with them.

NotebookLM is built around the idea of helping you interact with your uploaded documents better, and that's what I think it does best. You can ask questions about your documents without worrying about the AI making things up, since every response is grounded in your files with proper citations.

I've tested a bunch of AI tools over the last few months, and no tool is yet to match how well NotebookLM handles this. That's why it's been my go-to recommendation for anyone who deals with a lot of PDFs. But now, Adobe thinks it has a real answer with its new Acrobat Studio.

Adobe launches Acrobat Studio with PDF Spaces

As announced via a press release, Adobe introduced Acrobat Studio, a “transformative home for productivity and creativity” that brings together Adobe Acrobat, Express, and AI agents to allow users to create, edit, share, and interact with their documents more seamlessly.

Acrobat Studio includes PDF Spaces, which use AI agents to transform uploaded documents into "conversational knowledge hubs." Adobe explains that once you've uploaded your documents to a PDF Space, you can interact with it, uncover insights, get recommendations and ideas, and more.

Like NotebookLM, any claim the AI makes will always be backed up by citations. This means you don’t need to spend as much time manually digging through files or cross-checking details — the AI does the heavy lifting for you. When I first heard about the feature, I wasn’t particularly intrigued. But after seeing a live demo, that changed, and it became clear just how closely it mirrors NotebookLM.

Just like NotebookLM, the moment you upload a document, the AI instantly generates three suggested questions, and clicking on any of them immediately pulls out the relevant insights from the documents, complete with clickable citations. You can click on the citations to jump directly to the exact part of the file where the answer came from.

What I’ve always liked about NotebookLM is that when you ask it something completely unrelated to your documents, it simply tells you it can’t answer since it’s only drawing from your uploaded files. For instance, in a PDF Space Adobe sent me, I asked the assistant what XDA is.

Instead of saying it didn’t know, it generated a summary of the sources in the Space. PDF Spaces support multiple content types, including PDFs, DOCX, PPTX, cloud storage files, and website URLs. Acrobat Studio also includes all the features you likely rely on already from Acrobat Pro, like Editing & Signing, Redaction, Comparison, and more.

Since I'm a student, I can primarily see myself using PDF Spaces to quickly read through my lecture notes, research papers, and class readings, similar to how I use NotebookLM. But I can see this feature being just as useful for professionals in all sectors, and I'm genuinely excited to see where it goes.

Acrobat Studio is available globally in English starting today with a 14-day free trial, giving users unlimited access to PDF Spaces, AI Assistants, and Adobe Express Premium. After the trial, early access pricing starts at $24.99/month for individuals and $29.99/month for teams.