Google has a batch of Gemini updates to its apps that give AI assistants the ability to create a first draft in Docs, create entire spreadsheets in Sheets, design presentations in Slides, and answer questions about files stored in Drive. These features began becoming available to Beta and Pro subscribers and Gemini Alpha Business customers on March 10, in English only.
In Docs, a new “Help Me Create” tool creates a formatted first draft based on a user prompt, pulling references from Drive, Gmail, chat, and the Web. Gemini can also match the writing style or formatting of a reference document. Google says more than a third of new Docs are created from copies of existing files, so the formatting tools are aimed at reducing that manual work. In Sheets, Gemini can now build an entire spreadsheet from a natural language prompt, pulling data from a user’s files and emails as well as Google Chat and the web.
The “Fill with Gemini” feature automatically populates table cells, which Google says is nine times faster than manual entry, based on a 95-person study (this sounds completely unscientific, so take these claims with a grain of salt). Sheets also received optimization tools powered by Google DeepMind and Google Research that can solve problems like employee scheduling through written prompts. In Slides, Gemini can generate individual slides that match the theme of the existing deck, with a single prompt later creating a complete presentation.
Google Drive is getting into search results, with a new “Ask Gemini” tool that lets users interrogate their files, emails, and calendars, similar to the feature the company offers in Gmail. Unlike the rest of these updates, the Drive features will first be released only to customers in the US.
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