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PDFs are the backbone of academic and professional document sharing. While incredibly versatile, PDFs can be tricky to navigate and process, especially larger files or multiple documents. That’s where artificial intelligence can step in and enhance your PDF productivity.
1. Summarize PDFs With AI
Sometimes, you just need the big-picture highlights from a lengthy PDF, without getting bogged down in the details. Or you might want a quick way of finding out if a document is worth reading at all.
You canget ChatGPT to read PDFs for free, but alternatives likeMicrosoft Copilotand Gemini AI offer much more.
Gemini AI, with its Google Workspace plugin, can access your Google Drive and the PDF files in it. To summarize a PDF document, you just need to head over to Gemini, then ask it to access the document and give you a summary.
For this feature to work properly, you should give your PDF files unique descriptive names. Then, a prompt like this can get Gemini to summarize the PDF:
Give me a full summary of the “Diabetes Mellitus.pdf” document on my Google Drive.
Gemini provides a concise and well-organized summary of the PDF that covers most of the topics included in the original document.
Enclosing the document’s name in quotation marks helps to avoid confusion.
Microsoft Copilot, which you can access within Microsoft Edge, is a bit more convenient than Gemini. It can access PDFs directly, so you don’t need to upload them and have the AI open in another tab. Copilot even suggests a summarization prompt, making it easy to get started.
When using your own prompts, typing@This pagein the prompt box will set Copilot’s context to the open PDF. you may fetch a summary with a prompt like this:
Give me a full summary of @This page.
The prompt’s phrasing also influences the PDF summary. Experimenting withprompting techniquesis key!
2. Chat With PDFs
You may want to go beyond extracting basic information from a PDF, and gain an understanding of its meaning. AI-powered chat interfaces allow you to interact with PDFs as though they were knowledgeable assistants. you’re able to ask questions about a PDF’s content in natural language. The AI will analyze your query, contextualize it against the document, and provide relevant answers.
There are lots ofAI tools that answer questions from your PDFs. Most of these are ChatGPT-powered, but their developers have trained them to work with PDFs. If you prefer to stick with the big names, Gemini and Copilot are the way to go.
Google’s Gemini uses the same process as before: load the PDF from Google Drive, and ask questions about it. A minor inconvenience is that Gemini AI sometimes needs a nudge to access your files. If the prompt isn’t just right, it will end up replying that it can’t access PDF files due to security and privacy concerns.
The trick here is to encourage Gemini to access the PDF first, then follow up with your questions. Start by asking a single question about your PDF to prompt Gemini to engage with your Drive content. Then, follow up with more questions. A prompt like this can start the conversation:
What does the file ‘Diabetes Mellitus.pdf’ in my Google Drive say about treating DM patients who also have cardiovascular disorders?
Once you get a response, you can follow up with the rest of the questions, one at a time.
Microsoft Copilot’s conversational approach is a major advantage when it comes to chatting with PDF files. Remember to tag the PDF using@This pageto restrict answers to the document’s content. I asked the same question from Copilot with the prompt below:
What’s the best pharmacological therapy for DM patients with cardiovascular disorders according to @This page?
3. Get Key Insights From Multiple PDFs With AI
When your research spans more than one PDF, Gemini and Copilot’s single-file limit can hinder progress.Google’s NotebookLM—one ofthe best AI notebooks—can come to your rescue. You can either upload or write your notes, and NotebookLM will respond based on them. The best thing is that you can also upload PDFs.
NotebookLM allows you to select specific notes for each discussion, providing endless possibilities for your research. For instance, you’re able to compare company reports from different years or cross-reference scientific papers and get instant insights into the documents. NotebookLM also gives a summary of each PDF right away.
As an example, I uploaded two PDF lectures on two different diseases to NotebookLM. I then asked a question that needed context from both files to answer:
What’s the difference in pharmacotherapy between stable ischemic heart disease and acute coronary syndrome?
NotebookLM also provides citations for any facts it presents. you’re able to click each citation to double-check that the information is indeed from your PDF files. The suggested questions are a bonus because they not only eliminate the worry of properly prompting but also provide additional insight if you haven’t thought of the question before.
4. Generate Quizzes From PDFs With AI
Whether for training purposes, employee assessments, or education, AI can help you learn from PDFs. AI tools can analyze the content of a PDF and construct appropriate quizzes or knowledge checks based on the information within it.
Copilot works better than Gemini when it comes to creating quizzes—Gemini also works but the questions are too obvious. A simple prompt like the one below will generate a handy quiz in Copilot:
“Create a multiple-choice quiz about @This page.”
While the questions might err on the easier side, they’re fantastic for a quick review. Unfortunately, Copilot forgot to include the answers to the questions and when asked to give me the answers, it decided not to cooperate. Make sure to ask it to include the answers as well in the original prompt.
NotebookLM is an even more powerful tool for generating quizzes. NotebookLM’s ability to use multiple PDFs allows it to create quizzes that cover various topics for a thorough assessment. Try this prompt:
“Create a multiple-choice quiz from the three sources. It should have 10 questions. Provide the answers too.”
These suggestions on how you may work with PDFs using AI are just the beginning. As AI technology evolves, the ways we interact with PDFs will undoubtedly become even more sophisticated. Remember, AI is here to assist, not to replace your critical thinking. Always verify information and consult human experts, particularly in sensitive fields.
