Recently, on the Joe Rogan Experience #2379, Matthew McConaughey shared something pretty interesting. He talked about wanting his own private AI system - one that would only learn from his personal stuff like his books, notes, journals, and dreams for the future.
The idea was simple but powerful.
He wanted to be able to ask these AI questions and get answers that came purely from his own thoughts and writings.
No outside noise, no random internet information - just his own wisdom and ideas talking back to him.
We built Elephas to do exactly what Matthew McConaughey described.
With Elephas, you can upload documents, YouTube videos, web pages, or almost any content—and then chat with it naturally, just like having a real conversation.
So if Matthew McConaughey wanted to upload all his books, personal notes, and journal entries, he could do that with Elephas.
Then he could ask it anything and get responses based only on his own material. It's like having a conversation with your own collected thoughts and knowledge.
Let’s know more about Elephas and the exact process of chatting with your own ideas.
How to set up Elephas like Matthew McConaughey
Here's the simple step-by-step process Matthew McConaughey would follow based on what he described in the Joe Rogan podcast.
Step 1: Create Your Private Brain
Matthew opens Elephas, clicks the plus icon to create a new brain called "Personal Wisdom," and chooses offline mode to keep everything completely private on his computer.
Step 2: Upload His Published Books
He adds all three books he has written as the foundation.
These contain his refined thoughts and core philosophy that he has already shared with the world. He also uploads years of personal journal entries going back to when he was 18, plus all those articles he has been cutting and pasting for the past 10 years.
Step 3: Start Private Conversations
Now Matthew can chat with his brain using the specific prompts he mentioned:
"Based on what you know about me, what books do you think I would find interesting?"
"Where do I stand on the political spectrum?"
"What have I written about that I have forgotten along the way?"
"What patterns do you see in my aspirational writing?"
The key is everything coming only from his own material. No outside noise, no internet content—just his thoughts and wisdom talking back to him.
Why Choose Elephas Over NotebookLM?
Many people think NotebookLM is the better choice because it looks free at first. But when you dig deeper, Elephas actually gives you much more value for your money and privacy.
The pricing tells the whole story. Elephas costs only $14.99 per month, while NotebookLM charges $20 monthly for their paid plan. But the real difference comes with what you get for that money.
NotebookLM limits you to just 50 source files in the free version and only 300 sources even in their expensive paid plan. With Elephas, you can upload unlimited files without any restrictions.
The biggest advantage is complete privacy and offline control. While NotebookLM sends all your documents to Google's cloud servers for processing, Elephas runs everything locally on your Mac.
This means your personal notes, business documents, and private thoughts never leave your device. You can even use Elephas without any internet connection at all.
Beyond just document limits, Elephas offers advanced writing tools, automated workflows, and diagram creation that NotebookLM simply doesn't have.
Here's what makes Elephas the smarter choice:
- Better Pricing - Elephas costs only $14.99/month while NotebookLM's paid plan is $20/month
- No Upload Limits - Elephas lets you upload unlimited files, while NotebookLM restricts you to just 50 sources in free version and 300 in paid
- Complete Privacy - With Elephas, everything runs on your computer offline, no data sent to cloud servers
- No Internet Required - Process your documents even without internet connection
- Local Control - Your sensitive information never leaves your device
- More Features - Writing tools, workflows, diagram creation, and much more
The biggest advantages are privacy and document upload limits. While NotebookLM processes everything on Google's servers, Elephas keeps your personal data completely private on your own computer and also gives you unlimited file uploads instead of Google’s 50 source limit.
For a detailed comparison, check out our article on NotebookLM vs Elephas.
Conclusion
Matthew McConaughey had a great idea about creating a personal AI that only knows his own thoughts and writings. The good news is that you don't need to wait for someone to build it - Elephas already does exactly what he wanted.
With Elephas, you get something much better than what most people are using. While others send their private documents to big tech companies like Google, you keep everything on your own computer. Your personal notes, work files, and private thoughts stay completely private and secure.
The setup takes just a few minutes, and you can start with unlimited file uploads for less money than other options. Whether you want to chat with your research notes, organize your thoughts, or build a knowledge base from your work, Elephas makes it simple and safe.
Your ideas and knowledge deserve to stay private. Why not give your own personal AI assistant a try? Download Elephas today and start building the same kind of private AI system that Matthew McConaughey talked about on Joe Rogan podcast.
