Google Workspaces gets supercharged with Gemini to help you work smarter

What you need to know

• Gmail gains AI-powered personalized reply suggestions, inbox cleanup, and faster appointment scheduling.
• Google Meet gets real-time speech translation in multiple languages for the latest AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
• Google Vids also leverages AI to convert slides to videos, refine recordings, generate scripts with AI avatars, and improve audio.

The biggest Google I/O event is here, and the search giant has a lot to offer across its products. Like in previous years, the focus is again on AI and its incorporation into its services.

Google showcased a glimpse of AI integration in its Workspace products like Gmail, Meet, Vids, and Docs, and they get new capabilities.

Gemini in Gmail

Starting with Gmail, regular users will now be able to reply to their emails with the help of AI. In instances like replying to an email or a thread where gathering previous details could be an intriguing task, new personalized replies in Gmail are coming into play. Users can draft their emails through AI suggestions that match their specific context and tone.

The response suggestions here will be based on past emails, alongside Google Drive, to get additional context. Google notes that Gemini can further adapt to users’ tone eventually, which can be crisp, formal, or conversational.

Speaking of emails, they tend to generally pile up, making users difficult to manage sometimes. That's where Gemini comes to your rescue again, as it can now start deleting or archiving emails with the new Inbox clean-up. Users will be able to tell Gemini to “delete all of my unread emails” from any specific user or a subscription to tidy up things in their inbox.

Additionally, fast appointment scheduling will be integrated into Gmail soon. It means users will be able to offer times for customers or clients who are normally out of their organization and not in their conventional calendar. Gemini in Gmail will also be able to detect when a user is trying to set up a meeting and give users “a helpful nudge,” making it easier to share the booking page right within the email app. The aim is to sort things out by reducing the time and effort spent coordinating schedules.

All the aforementioned features for Gmail will be available for the next quarter.

Google Meet gains language translation

Google Meet should soon be able to diminish language barriers in calls as it is gaining a speech translation feature. It helps listeners in a call listen to their language despite the speaker speaking in their preferred language, that too in real time. Google is also promising low-latency while maintaining their voice, tone, and expression. Overall, the conversation across both parties is likely to appear more authentic and natural.

The speech translation feature is available for Google Meet users for those who are subscribed to Google AI Pro and Ultra plans in beta, and is initially available in English and Spanish. More of them are promised to be added in the coming weeks.

Google Vids can turn slides into videos

Google Vids, which was launched last year, is now gaining notable features. They can now turn existing Google Slides into engaging videos. Slides or presentations can sometimes be boring; however, they are essential in organizations, be it to train teams, onboard new employees, and explain things. Such slides can now easily be converted into videos through Google Vids, which presumably captures the audience’s attention more than the slides.

Gemini is further believed to generate scripts, voiceovers, animations, and more.

Google Vids usually help users record things, and they can sometimes have distracting or filler words like “ums” and “ahs”. Integration of Gemini in Vids will help users trim such filler words and awkward pauses through the transcript trim feature, which can be triggered with a single click. With the help of AI, users will also be able to adjust sound levels in instances where sound quality is uneven, eliminating the need for complicated audio mixing.

Making training videos can be a hideous task, especially if there are dozens of them. Google Vids already allows users to make videos, and going further, users can just write a script and choose a new AI avatar feature to deliver the message on behalf of you. While the avatar does the talking, it claims to be handy to create polished video content and skip the process of coordinating talent and video production.

While converting slides to videos will be available for users next quarter, the Balance sound will be available next month, and transcript trim will arrive in Labs next quarter. The AI Avatar, on the other hand, is coming to Labs next month. Interestingly, all these features are included for those who are on a Google AI Pro or Ultra plan.

Imagen 4 in Workspace

Generating an image in Slides, Vids, and Docs just got better with the inclusion of Imagen 4— announced today at Google I/O. It promises to enhance users’ visual storytelling as Imagen 4 helps create richer, detailed visuals, accurate spelling, and text rendering for images. And, it is available for users starting today.

Google Docs gets Gemini Enhancements

Google is also launching a source-grounded writing assistance to help users concentrate better when writing on Google Docs. The sources that are typically dispersed around decks, data, and documents — and further stored in external links and Google Drive — can be brought into the assistant pane with the help of Gemini.

Users will be able to link relevant decks, data, and reports directly into a Google Docs document, where Gemini will be able to pull from these sources and simultaneously provide writing assistance. It further keeps suggestions intact and grounded in trusted content and eliminates the need for switching tabs. The feature is said to be available next quarter.

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