By Chris Huerta in Notion — Oct 25, 2025

Notion AI Review: A Practical Use Case That Gives Me Hope

From AI skeptic to believer. Here's the one easy Notion AI use case that gave me hope.

A quick win in my productivity setup using Notion AI.

I'll be honest: I have been drowning in AI hype.

Everyone is coming out with their own flavors of AI, pushing features into every product I own. I'd heard about Notion doing it a while back, but I was so overwhelmed that I just ignored any and all new AI features.

It wasn't until I was setting up my new Pixel Pro 10 Fold and downloaded the Notion app that I got an idea. I wondered if Notion AI could actually help with a very specific, niche problem I had.

To me, AI is useless unless you come at it with a real problem to solve. This time, I had one.

The Problem: Taming My Tech Collection

My problem, although it's a fortunate one, is that I'm able to buy a lot of tech. That tech can be expensive, which leads me to wanting to track a few key things:

What I bought: Track all the devices like laptops, phones, smart watches, rings, etc.
Receipts: Store and track all receipts in case I ever have to make a return or warranty claim.
Payment Method: I want to track which credit card I used. I often choose a card based on its additional protections and extended warranties, so noting this makes it easy to see my options for a claim.
Serial Number: This is almost always requested when filing a warranty claim.
Transaction Details: Order number, date ordered, and the merchant. This tells me whether I need to go through the seller, the manufacturer, or my credit card company.

I needed a simple database to manage all of this, and I wondered if Notion AI could just build it for me.

The Prompt: Asking Notion AI for Help

This is where you see how good an AI feature really is. I didn't use any complex "prompt engineering." I simply opened Notion AI and typed a straightforward, natural language request:

can you help me create a page that helps me track my tech inventory. i have a lot of gadgets that i want to track, including the name of the gear, date acquired, price paid for it, where it’s at, receipt attachment, payment method that links to my credit card HQ page. These are things like laptops, phones, smart watches, rings, etc.

I just said what I wanted, why I wanted it, and how I planned to use one of the fields to link to my Credit Card HQ Notion page.

The Result: A Perfect Database in Seconds

Here is exactly what Notion AI came back with:

All set! I created a Tech Inventory database with the fields you asked for:ItemDate AcquiredPrice PaidLocationReceiptCredit Card HQ

How to use it quicklyAdd an item: Click “New” and fill in the fields.Date Acquired: Pick a date or date-time.Price Paid: Enter the amount.Location: Use the place picker to store where it lives.Receipt: Upload your receipt file or photo.Credit Card HQ: Paste the link to your credit card HQ page.

Would you like me to:Convert “Credit Card HQ” into a relation to a specific page instead of a URL? If so, share the page link and I’ll wire it up.Add helpful fields like Category, Condition, Serial Number, Warranty Expiration, or Notes?Create extra views like “By Category,” “Warranty ending soon,” or a gallery view for visual browsing?

Note that last bit. It didn't just create a simple "URL" field. It understood what I meant by "links to my credit card HQ page" and offered to turn it into a Relation—a core Notion feature. It also anticipated my other needs, like Serial Number and Warranty Expiration.

So not only did Notion do the thing I asked, but it incorporated the unique features that make Notion powerful (like relationships) into its response.

That is genuinely useful.

Ongoing Use: More Than a One-Trick Pony

The "win" didn't stop at creation. Notion AI also helps me populate the database.

I'm still looking for ways to streamline this, but my current workflow is simple: when I open the Tech Inventory page, I can just open Notion AI and upload a new receipt. Notion AI scans it and then populates a new row in the database, capturing the attributes I specified and even including some notes.

Why This is a Genuine "AI Win"

When I'm deciding "is Notion AI worth it?" or if any AI feature is more than just hype, I look for a few things. Notion AI nailed them all.

It just works. As you can see above, it worked on the first try. I had a clear ask and an expected output, and it delivered without me having to guide and troubleshoot it. Getting it to work the first time is key for AI adoption, and Notion did a great job.
It's easy to use. I may be more tech-savvy than the average user, but the fact that I didn't have to download a separate app, watch a tutorial, or do any homework is a massive win. Notion AI performed a task I could have done manually, but it did it faster and to my exact specifications. I didn't have to compromise.
It provides continued value. Most AI experiences are one-and-done. You ask a question, you get an answer. The fact that the benefit here doesn't end with the creation of the database is a huge plus. Notion AI helps me build into what we created, without me having to retrain or remind it of the context.
It's deeply integrated. The worst thing is when a product builds an AI feature that can't even access the core functions of the product it's in. The fact that Notion AI can create a database, understand, and offer to use Relations is a perfect example of deep, thoughtful integration.

Where Notion AI Fits (And Where It Doesn't)

If you're not already a Notion user, I wouldn't flock to it just for its AI. While it's fantastically integrated and can reference your other pages and workspaces, it's not a one-for-one replacement for general-purpose tools.

When it comes to a Notion AI vs ChatGPT or Gemini comparison, the general-purpose tools are still king for broad research, writing, and brainstorming. But for tasks inside Notion, Notion AI is the clear winner.

Final Thoughts: From Skeptic to Believer

Look, I started out ignoring Notion AI because I was overwhelmed by the hype. I'm happy to say Notion proved me wrong.

Coming at it with a real-world, practical Notion AI use case—tracking my expensive tech for warranties—showed me its true value. It’s a clear "AI win": it worked the first time, it’s deeply integrated with core Notion features, and it continues to be useful long after the initial "wow" moment.

It’s not a ChatGPT killer, but it doesn't need to be. It’s a powerful feature that makes Notion a better product. And for this use case, it’s frankly a game-changer.

Great job, Notion team!