A number of future generative AI features for Google’s Workspace apps, which include Google Docs, Gmail, Sheets, and Slides, have been unveiled.
The features include new ways to generate, summarize, and brainstorm text with AI in Google Docs (similar to how many people use OpenAI’s ChatGPT), the option to generate full emails in Gmail based on users’ brief bullet points, and the ability to produce AI imagery, audio, and video to illustrate presentations in Slides (similar to features in both Microsoft Designer, powered by OpenAI’s DALL-E, and Canva, powered by Stable Diffusion).
The declaration demonstrates Google’s determination to overtake rivals in the new AI race. The search giant has been rushing to introduce comparable AI features ever since ChatGPT debuted last year and Microsoft released Bing with chatbot support in February. According to reports, the business issued a “code red” in December, ordering staff to quickly incorporate AI technologies into all of its consumer products, which are utilized by billions of people.
But Google is unquestionably moving too quickly. The first of the company’s many new features, AI writing tools in Docs and Gmail, will only be made accessible to a handful of US-based “trusted testers” this month, despite the company’s announcement of a plethora of new capabilities. (This is also how Google announced availability for ChatGPT rival Bard.) The public will subsequently be able to use these capabilities, among others, later this year, although Google didn’t indicate when.
The whole list of AI-powered features that Google promises will eventually be added to Workspace apps is shown below:
- Draft, reply, summarize, and prioritize your Gmail
- Brainstorm, proofread, write, and rewrite in Docs
- Bring your creative vision to life with auto-generated images, audio, and video in Slides
- Go from raw data to insights and analysis via auto-completion, formula generation, and contextual categorization in Sheets
- Generate new backgrounds and capture notes in Meet
- Enable workflows for getting things done in Chat
The AI writing and brainstorming capabilities in Docs and Gmail appear to have the most potential out of all the new features. In a sample demo (GIF above), a user enters the request “Job post for a regional sales rep” after seeing the prompt “Help me write.” The work spec is then finished for them by the AI system in a matter of seconds, allowing them to update and improve the text.
In their press announcement, Google elaborates on these potential uses: “Workspace saves you the time and work of writing that first version, whether you’re a busy HR professional who needs to write personalized job descriptions or a parent composing the invitation for your child’s pirate-themed birthday party. Simply type the subject you want to write about, and a draft will be created for you right away. You can keep editing and refining with your cooperative Al partner, adding further recommendations as necessary.
It’s noteworthy that Word, Teams, and Outlook are among the Office suite of programs that Microsoft is said to be integrating comparable functions into. With the introduction of the new Bing this year, Microsoft notoriously upset Google. AI-assisted search, according to CEO Satya Nadella, is a brand-new paradigm that has the potential to dethrone Google. Yet it appears that the two businesses will also face off in the market for productivity software. Microsoft has a presentation on “the future of work with AI” slated for later this week, on March 16.
Indeed, there are risks associated with the hurry to release AI solutions. Known for being unreliable, AI text-generating programs frequently “hallucinate” erroneous material and offer it with complete assurance. Also, they frequently repeat gender and racial biases found in their training data.
These flaws could have serious consequences as Google incorporates this technology into its business software. What if Google’s AI meeting summaries incorrectly credit ideas or quotes, for instance? or if the marketing emails produced by your AI create brand-new customers or goods? In its press announcement today, Google issued a customary disclaimer: “Sometimes the Al gets things wrong, sometimes it delights you with something odd, and oftentimes, it requires assistance.” Users, however, might not be amused by a “offbeat” AI that costs them money whereas they might see the funny side of Microsoft’s Bing chatbot going off the rails.
