Google supercharged its suite of Workspace apps with Gemini-powered AI features all the way back in June 2024.
Since then, Workspace apps, including Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and more have received a constant stream of updates, with support being far from one-and-done.
Gemini side panel comes to Gmail, Drive, and other Workspace apps
Sadly, It’s only available to paid customers
In a new blog post today, the Mountain View, California-based tech giant announced new Gemini-powered features coming to Google Workspace, but only for Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers, at least for now.
Google Docs
Gemini in Google Docs can now personalize what it writes for you. You simply describe what you want Gemini to create in the side panel or Docs’ new bottom bar, and with its ability to pick up context from other connected Google apps, Gemini will be to personalize what it writes.
For example, you can prompt “draft a newsletter for our neighborhood association using the meeting minutes from my January HOA meeting and the list of upcoming events,” and Gemini will be able to go through your files to create a first draft.
Elsewhere, Docs now has a new Match writing style tool, which, as its name suggests, can edit a piece of text to make it sound like it was written by you. This should be especially useful for those that can easily type out rough thoughts but struggle to create a cohesive narrative out of it.
Google Sheets
According to Google, Sheets is going from a tool you use to a tool that you’ll be able to collaborate with. The most impressive development here is the addition of “Fill with Gemini.”
The tool uses AI to generate custom text, categorize data and summarize data or access real-time information from Google Search. For example, “if you’re applying for college, you may have a tracker for all of your application details. Instead of needing to manually research the due date, tuition and more information for each school, you can populate column headers for the information you want, then drag down to let Gemini fill in the table for you based on relevant information from the web,” suggests the tech giant.
Google Slides
Gemini can already generate Slides for you, but Google’s latest update puts more focus on making sure generations align with your intended theme. When you already have a deck created, you’ll be able to tell Gemini to create a new slide that aligns to your overall theme.
Gemini in Slides will also be able to pull context from your files, emails, and the web to generate relevant content.
Elsewhere, if one slide doesn’t match the visual aesthetic of the rest of the presentation, a simple prompt along the lines of “make this match the colors of the rest of my deck” can fix the design for you.
Although not available just yet, users will soon also be able to generate entire decks based on single prompts, like “create a 5-slide deck for my upcoming Tokyo trip,” or akin.
Google Drive
Google Drive is getting ‘Ask Gemini,’ making it easier for you to find exactly what you’re looking for in your messy drive.
You can search for files and folders with natural, everyday language, and Gemini will generate an AI Overview to summarize “the most relevant information from your files — complete with citations — so you can get the answer you need without even opening a document.”
Elsewhere, in addition to finding files, the same Ask Gemini tool can also answer complex questions for you. For example, “you can select all your tax-related files and ask, ‘What should I ask my tax advisor before I file this year’s tax returns?’ to get a detailed response based on your actual data.”
All new Gemini-powered features are rolling out in beta now to Google AI Ultra and Pro subscribers in English. Google Docs, Sheets and Slides’ upgrades are rolling out globally. Google Drive’s Ask Gemini upgrade is currently limited to the US.
