By now, it's well-established that AI has become an incredibly important part of education. Some use it to cheat, some use it to make studying a little easier, and some use it to learn faster and smarter. Admittedly, I’ve done both at some point, but I lean more toward using it to actually improve how I study and retain information.

I've tested almost every AI tool I come across that claims to make studying easier, and Google's NotebookLM has so far been my favorite. It has genuinely useful features that are designed to actually help you study smarter, and not harder. You can convert your notes into podcast-style discussions, Mind Maps, study guides, and more — all within minutes.

Since I started using NotebookLM, I've tested a bunch of its competitors, dedicated study modes AI giants have released, like ChatGPT's Study Mode, but none of them really came close to it. That is, until I stumbled upon a Google Labs experiment that takes note-based studying to an entirely different level.

Google is experimenting with a project called Learn About

Make sure to try it yourself

Some people don't know this, but NotebookLM actually started out as an experimental Google Labs project under the codename "Project Tailwind." If you aren't familiar with Google Labs, it's essentially the company's testing ground for new tools and experiments before they’re released to the public.

One day, while I was using NotebookLM, I suddenly thought, "Hey, if NotebookLM's so great, I wonder what else Google is experimenting with in Labs." A couple of days later, I went hands-on with a bunch of experiments Google is currently working on in Labs. One of these experiments included a learning tool called Learn About.

I remember being really impressed with it back then, but I didn’t really use it much at the time. Since it's back-to-school season, I've been actively looking for new tools to integrate into my studying workflow, and I was reminded of Learn About. Unlike the majority of Google Labs experiments, Learn About is strictly focused on "learning" and is an AI-powered learning companion.

Though NotebookLM and Learn About are both designed for learning, the way they function is quite different: NotebookLM helps you understand your own sources, while Learn About is built to help you grasp topics and concepts, even if you don’t already have notes or materials.

Learn About is perfect for learning new concepts

The AI tutor you didn’t know you needed

When you head to the Learn About website, you're greeted with a "What would you like to learn about?" page, where you can either ask the tool what you want to study or upload an image or PDF of it. The latter is a bit similar to what NotebookLM offers, allowing the AI to analyze your materials and help you learn from them more effectively. I decided to go with asking the tool a concept I'd like to understand directly, curious to see how it would break down and explain the topic.

To test the tool out accurately, I decided to first go with a topic I'm not very familiar with. I have a linear algebra course this semester, so I chose a concept from that subject to see how well Learn About could guide me through it. I picked Matrix Multiplication, which is a topic I briefly studied in high school and remember nothing about. Even though I didn't bother prompting the tool with an in-depth question, Learn About immediately generated a clear, step-by-step explanation of matrix multiplication. It even linked to a YouTube video I could refer to in order to understand the topic better.

In every query you ask, Learn About also displays different learning cards to help you reinforce your understanding. In this example, Learn About displayed a Stop & think and Build your vocab card. The former card essentially includes a brief question or prompt that encourages you to pause and actively apply what you just learned, while the latter explains a definition of the topic clearly. It also included an Interactive List, which covered the Key Requirements for Matrix Multiplication.

On the left of the chat section, there was also a The big picture section, which was divided into three sub-sections: Understand the conditions required for matrix multiplication, Describe the process for calculating the elements of the product matrix, and Explain the overall concept of matrix multiplication as a combination of matrices.

Each of these sections had different buttons, which you could click to expand detailed explanations. At the end of the response, Learn About suggested three follow-up questions and related content I could explore. I asked a few follow-up questions about the doubts I needed clarified, and by the end of it, I understood matrix multiplication much better than I expected, and also felt confident applying the concept to practice problems.

You can learn more about any term with just a highlight

Just highlight and explore

One thing about it is that I always have a bunch of questions. The teacher assistants for my college courses are likely tired of seeing me in every office hours session. I'm the same way when using AI to study a concept and have a bunch of small questions about terms or phrases that pop up while I’m reading.

Often, I just want to understand one term from a response the AI gave me. But with most AI tools (including NotebookLM), you need to type out a full, detailed query even for a single word or phrase. If you just type the word or phrase, tools often don't take your original query into context, forcing you to re-explain what you were asking about each time and slowing down your workflow. Learn About has an incredible highlighting feature that solves this problem.

You can simply highlight any word or phrase in the response, and four options pop up: What is this?, See a picture, Search the web, and Ask about this. What is this? gives you a quick definition or explanation of the term. See a picture opens an image related to the topic or word, helping you visualize it. Search the web lets you quickly find more information online without leaving the tool. And Ask about this allows you to pose a more detailed question about the term or concept.

This isn't a massive feature, but it’s incredibly practical. It saves time, reduces friction in your studying, and makes it easy to get precise answers without breaking your focus or having to retype lengthy queries.

Learn About > NotebookLM

You won't catch me saying an AI tool beats NotebookLM often, but Learn About might just be the exception. It is essentially built by the same team at Google Labs, so I'm not surprised it’s as thoughtful and polished as it is. Even if you aren't a student and just want to explore a topic or learn something new, I'd highly recommend giving Learn About a try.