Ask GoodNotes: AI-Powered Q&A Tool Directly in Your Notebook

Need to find something in your notes, but can't remember where?

Struggling to understand a section of your textbook?

Facing a lengthy PDF you don't want to read?

Meet Ask Goodnotes. It's your personal productivity assistant, instantly retrieving and using any information from your notes in seconds.

Here are four things Ask Goodnotes can do for you:

Q&A

Imagine this: you're searching for an answer in PDF A, but it’s a 500-page document.

That's where Ask Goodnotes shines.

Instead of wasting time hunting through countless pages, just type your question into Ask Goodnotes. Within seconds, it’ll search your document and give you the answer.

Plus, Goodnotes will pinpoint the exact page and location where it found the information, so you can quickly dive deeper if needed.

Summarize complex or lengthy passages 

Ever caught yourself reading the same passage multiple times, only to realize you're not retaining anything?

For those dense or tricky sections, just Ask Goodnotes to break them down into simple, key points. You can choose specific pages or highlight the paragraph or section you want summarized.

Sample prompts:

• Summarize the main points of chapter five in bullet points

• Simplify this paragraph with easier language

• Explain this using a basketball analogy

Automatically generate practice questions to help you review

Testing yourself is one of the best ways to solidify information in your long-term memory.

Now, you can create your own quizzes with practice questions to make sure you retain what you’ve studied.

The best part? After completing a set of questions, you can generate more with Ask Goodnotes.

Instantly Translate Passages

If your document is in a second language, you can interact with Ask Goodnotes in your native language.

Here’s how to use different languages:

• Select any part of your notes with the Lasso tool, tap “Ask Goodnotes,” and type “Translate to [insert language].” Watch Ask Goodnotes provide the translation.

• You can also ask questions in a different language, and Ask Goodnotes will respond accordingly.

How to Use Ask Goodnotes

There are 3 ways to access Ask Goodnotes:

1. Tap the chat icon in the top-left corner of your toolbar to open the Ask Goodnotes sidebar.

2. Use the Lasso tool to select a specific passage, then tap Ask Goodnotes.

3. Highlight typed text, then tap Ask Goodnotes.

You can select text, handwritten notes, and even images.

Ask Goodnotes is available in Goodnotes 6 today.

Don’t let valuable information get lost in pages of notes. Maximize the knowledge you already have in Goodnotes with Ask Goodnotes.

Opinion

While Ask Goodnotes offers significant benefits for students, such as generating quizzes and summarizing content, it’s not without its shortcomings. Some users have reported that the AI can struggle with highly specialized or complex content, especially in technical fields where context and nuance are critical​. Additionally, although the AI works well with general study material, its effectiveness in handling deeply personalized or handwritten notes varies. There are concerns that the AI's summaries might omit key points or over-simplify complex subjects, which could lead to misunderstandings during review​.

Furthermore, while the tool can generate quizzes based on content, the quality and relevance of these quizzes depend heavily on the AI’s understanding of the material, which sometimes falls short of human-generated questions. This limitation makes the tool less reliable for advanced learning or deep study sessions, where more nuanced, critical thinking is required​.

Finally, Ask Goodnotes is still a relatively new feature, and its full potential remains to be seen. Users have expressed concerns about its ability to adapt to specific study needs without continuous updates and refinements.

While Ask Goodnotes offers a powerful tool to enhance note-taking, several limitations and considerations should be taken into account. One of the key challenges is its regional availability. The feature is not accessible in countries such as Afghanistan, China, Russia, and others due to local restrictions. This can be a significant barrier for users in those regions who are eager to leverage the feature for their productivity.

Another limitation is related to the AI’s ability to interpret and summarize content accurately. While the feature excels at extracting text from handwritten notes, it can struggle with complex content, particularly when dealing with highly technical or specialized material. Summarizing dense, technical content may not yield the most precise or coherent results, which might frustrate users who rely on AI to quickly digest complex information.

Additionally, the AI’s learning curve might pose a challenge for some users. While the tool integrates smoothly with Goodnotes, maximizing its effectiveness requires a bit of time and patience, especially for those unfamiliar with AI-assisted note-taking. The AI's performance also depends heavily on the quality of the handwritten content. It works best with well-structured notes and may falter with poorly legible or highly stylized handwriting.

Despite these limitations, Ask Goodnotes remains a valuable feature, particularly for general note management and basic content extraction. However, users looking for advanced AI capabilities, especially in specialized fields, may need to manage expectations when using the tool.