Google Workspace Update: Gemini Now Creates Documents, Spreadsheets, and Presentations!

Today, Google is rolling out a batch of new Gemini features in Workspace for AI Ultra and Pro subscribers in a beta phase. The primary aim is to embed AI directly into the core of the product, thus eliminating the need to redirect users to an external application. Here’s what you need to know.

New AI Capabilities in Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive

Google’s approach is consistent across all its tools. The focus is on enabling the assistant to generate, organize, or retrieve content by leveraging the user’s Drive files and emails (via Gmail), as well as information available on the web.

Google Docs: From Blank Page to Polished Draft

Gemini now features a prompt bar at the bottom of the Docs interface. This allows users to describe the document they want to create; the assistant then generates an initial draft by drawing from Drive files, Gmail emails, and web content. Two editing options enhance this feature: Match writing style, which harmonizes the tone throughout the document, and Match doc format, which aligns the structure of a new document to an existing template.

Google Sheets: Spreadsheet Generation via a Prompt

Gemini can also create a complete spreadsheet from a prompt, including tables, dashboards, and formatting. The Fill with Gemini feature further allows for the automatic filling of entire columns, relying on file data or real-time information from Google Search.

Google Slides: Faster Slide Creation

Users can now ask Gemini to generate a new slide that matches the theme of the current deck, using files, emails, or web content. Natural language editing is also available, allowing style, color, or tone adjustments directly through a prompt. The capability to generate complete presentations from a single prompt is promised but is still “coming soon.”

Google Drive: Intelligent File Search

Drive now includes an AI Overview feature, which can provide a summary of relevant information based on the various files stored. Additionally, the Ask Gemini in Drive option allows users to ask complex questions by cross-referencing documents, emails, calendars, and web searches. This feature is currently limited to users in the United States.

Accelerated Integration into the Google Ecosystem

These announcements are part of a systematic strategy to integrate Gemini across all Google services. In recent months, the assistant has successively joined Google Meet with the Ask Gemini feature, followed by the business offerings through Gemini Enterprise. The company’s strategy is to make Gemini a central thread linking different aspects of the ecosystem, from files to meetings and messaging, aiming to make it an indispensable hub. It remains to be seen whether this proliferation of features will translate into actual adoption beyond the initial beta testers.