Note-taking is an essential part of university studies, and having a centralized platform for these notes enhances the organization of all your subjects’ content. I started using Notion at the start of my master’s after being told about it by my roommate. All of my notes taken for Information Strategy have been drafted on this platform. One feature that I was particularly surprised by was the amount of AI capabilities available within the application. As shown in the below image, the application allows users to write with AI, interact with editing features and generate written products like a social media post for example.
I decided to test this out with my notes as input for the AI generation. A part of my notes from the first lecture was taken, namely on the myths and realities of digital business models being disruptive, and I asked Notion’s AI to make a social media post of the highlighted section. Below is an image of what the generative AI tool constructed.
I was impressed by the AI’s ability to structure the notes in a presentable way and transform a mere small piece of text into something that possesses many characteristics of a typical social media post caption. Notion AI debuted in February of this year and the tool was an addition on the existing platform, this something that the CEO believes could set the tool apart from others. It’s an optional add-on to the platform’s existing pricing plans, costing an extra $10 per user per month. This is a pricing strategy that may be dangerous given the fact that other AI high performing competitors are saying that they are most likely to cite the increase in the value of existing offerings through new AI-based features and not see this as an entirely new source of revenue (McKinsey & Company, 2023). Therefore, consumers will be less inclined to pay more if other services with AI are also not increasing price. As Stefan van Duin discusses in the preparation videos of Session 6, skilled adopters of AI focus more on enhancing existing products and services instead of on lowering costs (Li et al., 2020). This re-emphasizes that Notion AI might want to rethink the choice of increasing costs and focus more on promoting this product enhancement.
Sources
Li T., van Duin S., Vlam V. (2020, October 1). The challenges and opportunities of AI. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYqzaeeRL-8
The state of AI in 2023: Generative AI’s breakout year. (2023, August 1). McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai-in-2023-generative-ais-breakout-year
It’s fascinating to see how AI is making its way into note-taking and content generation. Notion’s AI’s ability to turn class notes into social media posts is indeed impressive. However, I agree that their pricing strategy may need rethinking. That is, unless they will be setting a new trend of making AI tools a separate revenue source, so consumers will be the ones paying the price for innovation after all. Thanks for sharing this interesting insight!