After OpenAI introduced the ChatGPT chatbot last November, Generative AI became one of the hottest topics in the tech world so, naturally, it also started to be explored by other companies in this industry like, for example, Google.

The sophisticated and creative possibilities of this new tech are indeed able to improve the user experience in several different scenarios, and, knowing that, this Tuesday (14) Google started to introduce AI tools in two of its most popular products: Gmail and Docs.

The new features (that will help users when creating text) were released as part of an initiative to boost productivity in the workspace; therefore, they are limited to the 3 billion Workspace users for now. In a recent blog post, Johanna Voolich Wright, Vice president of products for Google Workspace, wrote:

Whether you’re a busy HR professional who needs to create customized job descriptions, or a parent drafting the invitation for your child’s pirate-themed birthday party, Workspace saves you the time and effort of writing that first version […] Simply type a topic you’d like to write about, and a draft will instantly be generated for you.

In Google’s test, a user will be able to go into a text box and type something like “draft an email to the team” and the app will build a three-paragraph thank-you note that can be edited and used as a template or even turned into something different like, for example, a bullet list. If the outcome is not what the user was expecting, he or she can ask the app to try again.

Google’s initiative may have come as a direct answer to Microsoft’s major investment in OpenAI’s GPT technology, which will become an important part of Microsoft 365 (previously called Office 365), something to be talked about in a LinkedIn online event called “The Future of Work with AI”, scheduled for this next Thursday (16).

We still don’t know when Google will release the new features broadly (or if they’ll be free), but Mountain View is already planning additional AI tools for Workspace, including automatically generated images in Slides, note-taking in Meet, and a formula generation in Sheets.

Filed in General. Read more about AI (Artificial Intelligence), Google and Productivity.