Digging through historical documents, uncovering that password buried in meeting notes, transforming your note-taking app into a personal assistant — these are tasks that AI excels at now.
The second groundbreaking application of AI in the business realm seems to revolve around a fundamental capability: efficiently accessing information amidst a sea of files, folders, attachments, and disparate enterprise software applications that constitute modern knowledge work. Notion, a platform striving to streamline these processes into a unified resource, is introducing a feature aimed at tackling this challenge. Known as Q&A, CEO Ivan Zhao characterizes it as an omniscient artificial administrative assistant that provides instant access to a wealth of knowledge.
Notion Q&A is accessible to all users, whether for personal use or within a professional setting, priced at approximately \(8 to \)10 per user per month. This application shares similarities with Microsoft’s Copilot, Google’s Duet AI, as well as other tools like Dropbox Dash and Google’s NotebookLM. The quest to enhance information retrieval is a common goal, albeit with diverse approaches — navigating the complexities of AI-powered information retrieval is both a daunting challenge and a critical necessity.
In the case of Notion, Q&A functions primarily as a blend of a search engine and a robotic assistant. When queried about the company’s Wi-Fi login or the location of onboard templates, Q&A scours Notion’s database for relevant information. All responses provided by Q&A are meticulously linked to corresponding Notion pages to ensure accuracy and prevent misinformation.
Similar to a proficient robot, the Q&A program can address more ambiguous inquiries. During a demonstration, Zhao showcased its ability to retrieve a list of recent articles by David Pierce, along with information on companies not previously covered. This exemplifies the strengths and limitations of a Q&A tool, where the system’s knowledge is confined to the data within Notion’s database.
While Zhao acknowledges the challenge of expanding Q&A’s access to external information sources, he emphasizes the complexity of managing permissions and data security within the tool. Demonstrating this, Zhao’s query about employees on a Performance Improvement Plan showcased the system’s ability to restrict access based on user permissions, highlighting the importance of data security in such AI tools.
Notion’s AI tools, originally designed for relational reading and note-taking, have garnered significant popularity since their launch. According to Zhao, Q&A represents a crucial step towards addressing the complexities of modern life by assisting individuals in navigating vast amounts of information effectively. While the concept of replacing traditional filing systems with AI may not be groundbreaking, its practical benefits for users cannot be understated.
