Gmail, Google Docs, and more are getting ChatGPT-like generative AI features

Ben Schoon | Mar 14 2023 - 7:11 am PT

Google Workspace announcing its first wave of AI products and features, including generative AI similar to ChatGPT being integrated directly into Google Docs.

Announced on The Keyword this morning, Google unveiled the first big wave of AI features for its Workspace suite of products.

On the consumer end, the most interesting announcement is for Google Docs and Gmail, which are picking up ChatGPT-like generative AI. In Google Docs, this takes the form of creating outlines for new documents to help a user start writing. Google pitches this as using AI to create “the first draft,” and shows the example (below) of Docs creating an outline for a job description based on a very brief prompt, much like ChatGPT has been able to do, though Google’s version obviously lives directly within the word processor.

Google also teases that future AI additions to Docs will include being able to “brainstorm, proofread, write, and rewrite” with the help of AI in documents.

Beyond Docs, Google is also announcing more AI features within Gmail. Stepping beyond the existing Smart Reply and Smart Compose features, Gmail will be able to take a brief email and expand it, as well as changing the tone of the email to have a more formal tone. The AI can also take longer passages and shorten them, split content into bullet lists, or create a longer draft based on a short prompt.

In another post, Google explains how developers can use this AI, with the “PaLM” API opening soon. Google is also bringing PaLM to Cloud, with generative AI in Vertex AI and App Builder.

One of Google’s clear messages throughout this announcement is that AI isn’t a replacement for human writing, saying that “AI is no replacement for the ingenuity, creativity, and smarts of real people.” Google also adds that it is building out these tools to “keep the user in control.”

AI tools in Google Docs and Gmail will launch to Trusted Testers this month before expanding to the general public at a later date.

In the video below, Google teases how the AI can be used, and other products it will show up in. Slides is used as one example, and includes support for generative AI for images, with another example in Google Meet creating notes from a video call.