Anatomy student
Mapping the brachial plexus
Nina generates a concept map from her neuroanatomy lecture and finally *sees* the brachial plexus as a graph — roots, trunks, divisions, cords, branches — instead of a list of Latin names.
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See how every idea in a lecture connects to every other. Distill auto-generates a clickable concept map — nodes, edges, and all — from any recording, PDF, or transcript.
No credit card required · 10 recordings free every month
A concept map is a visual diagram that shows how ideas relate — think nodes connected by labeled edges (‘causes’, ‘is part of’, ‘contrasts with’). Cognitive science has called concept mapping one of the most effective study techniques for decades, because the act of drawing the relationships forces you to understand them. The problem has always been that building one by hand takes hours. Distill does it in seconds.
Distill’s AI mind map generator reads your lecture transcript, extracts the key concepts, and infers the labeled relationships between them. You end up with a clickable, zoomable graph where every node opens a mini-summary, every edge shows the relationship type, and every piece of content links back to the exact moment in the lecture it was taught. Clusters form naturally around sub-topics, and you can toggle layers (e.g. ‘just the definitions’, ‘only cause-and-effect’) to study different angles.
If you’ve searched for a concept map generator, an AI mind map tool, or a knowledge graph builder for studying — this is purpose-built for learners. Export to PNG, SVG, or XMind, or embed an interactive version in Notion or your LMS.
Not another note app. A real shortcut from lecture to long-term memory.
Before: Linear notes hide the structure of a subject — you can’t tell what depends on what.
With Distill: Distill produces a visual knowledge graph where the structure is immediately obvious — you literally see which concept is central.
Before: You don’t know what you don’t know until the exam.
With Distill: Sparse clusters in your concept map = topics you haven’t studied deeply. Distill flags gaps and suggests which lecture to review.
Before: Rote memorization doesn’t stick — especially for interconnected subjects like anatomy, biochemistry, or macro.
With Distill: Concept maps leverage spatial memory. Students remember the position of a node on the map, which triggers the definition.
From first tap to ready-to-study — a few minutes, max.
Record or upload as usual — Distill transcribes and summarizes in the background.
Choose density (focused / standard / comprehensive) and relationship style (hierarchy / semantic / causal).
Zoom, pan, click nodes for summaries, click edges for their relationship type. Drag nodes to re-arrange.
Export to PNG, SVG, XMind, or an interactive embed for Notion or Canvas.
Whatever kind of visual learner you are — Distill’s concept maps meet you there.
Traditional mind mappers require you to build the map. Distill generates it.
| Feature | Koydo Distill | Otter.ai | Notta | AudioPen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto-generates from audio/video | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Auto-generates from PDF | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Labeled edges (typed relationships) | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Click node → jump to source | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Multiple layout algorithms | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Export to XMind / Miro / Notion | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Manual editing / dragging | ✓ | — | — | — |
| Collaborative editing | In Pro plan | — | — | — |
| Free tier map limit | 10 maps / mo | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Comparison based on publicly listed features as of 2026. Data sourced from vendor pricing pages.
Here's how different learners put this feature to work.
Anatomy student
Nina generates a concept map from her neuroanatomy lecture and finally *sees* the brachial plexus as a graph — roots, trunks, divisions, cords, branches — instead of a list of Latin names.
Econ major
When Raúl maps his macroeconomics lectures, IS-LM, AD-AS, and the Phillips curve show up as interconnected sub-graphs — not isolated models. His intuition finally clicks.
Research PhD
Esra dumps her supervisor’s 45-minute journal club lecture into Distill. The concept map surfaces every paper cited, its methodology, and how the findings relate to her dissertation.
“I made my A-level students use Distill concept maps for their exam revision. Top grades across the board. The visual shape of the subject was what they needed.”
“Pharmacology finally made sense when I stopped trying to memorize drug names and started looking at Distill’s map of drug classes, mechanisms, and targets.”
“We use Distill concept maps in our consulting case-prep sessions. Faster than whiteboarding, more accurate than ChatGPT.”
Named entities, defined terms, and any noun phrase your lecturer repeated are candidate concepts. A ranking model picks the most exam-relevant ones based on emphasis, frequency, and whether they were given a definition.
Yes. Drag nodes, edit labels, change edge types, add or remove connections. Edits persist and inform future maps — Distill learns which concepts you care about.
Up to 250 nodes in a single map. For larger bodies of knowledge (e.g. a whole semester), use ‘composite maps’ that link multiple lecture maps into a super-graph.
Yes. Select up to 20 lectures and Distill generates a unified concept map that shows cross-lecture connections — extremely useful for cumulative exam prep.
Yes. Equation-bearing concepts are rendered with LaTeX in the node tooltip. Anatomical/structural diagrams from PDF slides become image-backed nodes.
XMind and MindMeister are blank canvases — you build the map yourself. Distill is an AI-generated knowledge graph built from your actual study material. You can still export to XMind and continue editing there.
Distill is more than concept maps— it's a whole studio for your lectures.
Join thousands of students who stopped re-reading slides and started actually learning.