Google announces AI-powered writing features for Docs and Gmail

Tech giant Google on Tuesday, March 14, made a slew of announcements that lifted the curtains on its artificial intelligence (AI) journey. Google said it was doubling down on generative AI aimed at developers, language models, and cloud.

The most interesting announcement is about the integration of generative AI in Google Docs and Gmail. Google said its new AI-powered writing features in Docs and Gmail will allow users to simply type a topic they'd like to write about, and a draft will instantly be generated — similar to ChatGPT.

"Your collaborative AI partner can also help find the right tone for your document or email, and if you’re in the mood to let AI try out a new playful voice altogether, you’ll be able to hit the 'I’m feeling lucky' option in Gmail," the press release said, adding that these features will be first tested in a phased manner before they are available publicly.

In the release, Google said it has been investing in AI for many years and that Tuesday's announcements are "all focused on how we’re bringing the benefits of AI to individuals, businesses, and communities."

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Google said it will allow developers and businesses to access its best AI-based large language models (LLMs), which it said would make it easy for them to scale and build businesses. Through PaLM API, developers can start prototyping quickly and easily.

"We’ll be making these tools available to select developers through a Private Preview, and stay tuned for our waitlist soon," Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian wrote in a blog post.

Google also announced two new solutions — Vertex AI, which gives data science teams access to foundation models from Google and others "letting them build and customise atop these models on the same platform they use for homegrown machine learning ML models” and operations; and Generative AI App Builder, which Google said will allow developers "to quickly ship new experiences, including bots, chat interfaces, custom search engines, digital assistants, and more.”

Google also said it is expanding the Google for Startups Cloud Programme to enable more AI-first startups, "and Accenture, BCG, Deloitte, McKinsey, Quantiphi, and TCS are committing to significantly grow their Google Cloud AI and generative AI advisory and implementation services and capabilities available to customers."

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