PDFs are the backbone of sharing academic and professional documents. While incredibly versatile, PDFs can be difficult to navigate and process, especially larger or multi-document files. That’s where Artificial Intelligence (AI) can step in and improve your PDF productivity.
1. Summarize PDF files with AI
Sometimes you just need the big picture highlights from a long PDF document without getting bogged down in the details, or want a quick way to figure out if the document is worth reading.
You can get ChatGPT to read PDF files for free, but alternatives like Microsoft Copilot and Gemini AI offer much more.
Gemini AI, with the Google Workspace plugin, can access Google Drive and the PDFs in it. To summarize a PDF document, simply go to Gemini, then ask it to access the document and provide a summary.
For this feature to work properly, it is recommended to give the PDF file a unique descriptive name. Then, a prompt like this can cause Gemini to summarize the PDF document:
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 document that covers most of the topics contained in the original document.
Tip : Enclosing the document name in quotation marks helps avoid confusion.
Microsoft Copilot (accessible in Microsoft Edge) is a little more convenient than Gemini. It can access PDFs directly, so there's no need to upload them and open the AI in another tab. Copilot even offers a summary prompt, making it easy to get started.
When using your own prompt, typing @This page into the prompt box will set Copilot's context to the currently open PDF file. The summary can be fetched using the prompt like this:
Give me a full summary of @This page.
The wording of the prompt also affects the PDF summary, so it's important to experiment with prompt writing techniques!
2. Interact with PDF files
You may want to go beyond extracting basic information from a PDF and understand its meaning. AI-powered conversational interfaces let you interact with PDFs as if they were knowledgeable assistants. You can ask questions about the contents of the PDF in natural language. The AI will analyze the query, contextualize it based on the document, and provide relevant answers.
There are plenty of AI tools that answer questions from PDF files. Most of them are powered by ChatGPT, but the developers have trained them to work with PDF files. If you prefer to stick with the big names, Gemini and Copilot are good choices.
Google's Gemini uses a similar process as before: Load a PDF file from Google Drive and ask it a question about it. One minor inconvenience is that Gemini AI sometimes needs some extra steps to access the files. If the prompt is incorrect, it will reply that it cannot access the PDF files due to security and privacy concerns.
The trick here is to encourage Gemini to access the PDF first, then answer your questions. Start by asking a question about the PDF to prompt Gemini to interact with the Drive content. Then, follow up with more questions. A prompt like this can get the conversation started:
What does the file 'Diabetes Mellitus.pdf' in my Google Drive say about treating DM patients who also have cardiovascular disorders?
Once you get the answer, continue answering the remaining questions, one at a time.
Microsoft Copilot's conversational approach is a big advantage when interacting with PDFs. Remember to tag the PDF using @This page to limit responses to the content of the document. The author of this article 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 details from multiple PDF files using AI
When research extends to more than one PDF, Gemini and Copilot’s single-file limit can hinder progress. Google’s NotebookLM—one of the best AI laptops—can help. Users can upload or write their notes, and NotebookLM will respond based on them. Best of all, PDFs can be uploaded as well.
NotebookLM allows you to select specific notes for each discussion, providing endless research possibilities. For example, you can compare company reports from different years or cross-reference scientific papers and get instant insights into the documents. NotebookLM also provides a summary of each PDF file instantly.
For example, the author uploaded two PDF lectures on two different diseases to NotebookLM. 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 information presented. You can click on each citation to double-check that the information actually came from the PDF file. The prompt questions are a bonus because they not only take the worry out of writing the prompt correctly, but also provide additional insight if you haven’t thought of a question before.
4. Create puzzles from PDF files using AI
Whether it's for training, employee evaluation, or education, AI can help you learn from PDFs. AI tools can analyze the content of PDFs and build relevant quizzes or knowledge tests based on the information contained within.
Copilot does a better job than Gemini at generating quizzes – Gemini’s questions are pretty straightforward. A simple prompt like the one below will generate a useful quiz in Copilot:
"Create a multiple-choice quiz about @This page."
While questions can be error prone, they are great for quick review. Unfortunately, Copilot forgot to provide answers to questions and when prompted for an answer, it decided not to cooperate. Make sure to ask it to include the answer in the initial prompt.
NotebookLM is an even more powerful tool for creating quizzes. NotebookLM's ability to use multiple PDF files allows it to create quizzes covering a wide range of topics for 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 for working with PDFs with AI are just the beginning. As AI technology develops, the way we interact with PDFs will undoubtedly become more complex. Remember, AI is here to support, not replace, your critical thinking. Always verify information and consult with human experts, especially in sensitive areas.
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