Google is introducing generative AI into a wide range of their apps, branded as Duet AI. You might have noticed that they have been slower than their competitors to launch AI-powered products, such as Microsoft and OpenAI, but it seems like many users will soon be able to use AI in their everyday lives, such as searching on Google, composing emails in Gmail, and writing paragraphs in Docs.
Because many of us interact extensively with Google apps in our daily lives, the integration of AI into these products has the potential to greatly impact our experience online. So, what exactly can Google’s AI do?
Gmail is a free web-based email service that many of us use often, and a tool called Help Me Write may reimagine how we use it. Instead of having to write out new emails, AI can generate an entire email just from a few prompts. If its initial attempt is not satisfactory, you can ask the AI to formalise the language, elaborate on details, or shorten the message.
Generative AI is also being used in Google Search, where a summary of your inquiry is put together by AI and shown to you at the top of the page, before any of the links. This AI snapshot pulls information from all over the web to produce the most helpful response, and you can even ask a follow-up question if you want further knowledge. Google hopes that the AI summary will better cater to queries that are harder to find answers for in the current form of the tool, such as “Best restaurants in New York” and “Best places to visit in Bangkok”.
The new AI will also be able to generate and summarise text in Google Docs, as well as produce AI images, videos, and audio in Google Slides. It can even help transform raw data into insights in Google Sheets, through formula generation and intelligent classification. While on a call in Google Meet, you could also use generative AI to write meeting notes, and convert the main action points into Tasks.
In fact, wherever you look, Google is trying to use their generative AI tools to improve your experience. You can now do AI-assisted shopping, obtain summarised email threads, and even have video meetings where each person’s video feeds are better cropped to minimise empty space.
In addition, Google wants to improve these features even further in the future, creating an assistant that will aid you across the different apps and services that they offer. In a world where artificial intelligence continues to grow, there is no doubt that Google wants to be a major player in the game.
These features are still under limited access to the public, but you can sign up to be added to a waitlist if you’re interested. For now, while we wait, we can imagine a world where AI is integrated into a large part of our time online. When there is no need to spend time composing emails, writing copy, and designing PowerPoints, a lot of our repetitive, mindless tasks will surely become more efficient.