Google to roll out AI tools for Gmail, Google Docs that automatically generate drafts



Google plans to unleash generative artificial intelligence tools for Gmail and Google Docs in the coming weeks that will automatically generate drafts, the Silicon Valley tech titan announced Tuesday.

"In Gmail and Google Docs, you can simply type in a topic you’d like to write about, and a draft will be instantly generated for you," Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian wrote in a post Tuesday, announcing the new features.

The new features will be rolled out to a "limited set of trusted testers" in coming weeks on a rolling basis throughout the year before making them available publicly.

Harnessing the power of generative AI will make it possible for Workspace users to "create, connect, and collaborate like never before," Google Workspace Vice President Johanna Voolich Wright said in a product announcement.

Wright noted that building AI features demands "great care" and said that the company is "building safeguards against abuse, protecting the privacy of user data, and respecting customer controls for data governance."

"AI is no replacement for the ingenuity, creativity, and smarts of real people," Wright said, noting that AI can sometimes get things wrong and oftentimes requires guidance.

More than 3 billion people already use AI-powered features in Google Workspace, the company reports. Current AI-powered features include "Smart Compose" in Gmail and auto-generated summaries in Google Docs, for example.

In addition to Gmail and Google Docs, Google Workspace also includes Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Slides, Sheets, and more.

Wright says the new AI features will include the ability to:

  • draft, reply, summarize, and prioritize Gmail (an email service)
  • brainstorm, proofread, write, and rewrite in Docs (a word processing app)
  • get auto-generated images, audio, and video for Slides (a presentation app)
  • go from raw data to insights and analysis in Sheets (a spreadsheet app)
  • enable workflows in Chat (a group communication and collaboration tool)

One of the AI tools to which users will soon have access involves the capability to assist with rewrites. Wright provided a few examples including adopting a more formal tone in an email and transforming a bullet-point list into a more narrative-like summary.

For a "playful voice," users will be able to give the "I'm feeling lucky" option a try in Gmail.

The "I'm feeling lucky" button for Google's search is among its oldest features. Hitting the button on a desktop search with Google will port you automatically to the search result Google calculates will be most relevant.

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'Annoying as hell': Google Docs features 'inclusive warning' pop-ups telling users to choose 'chairperson' instead of 'chairman' and other woke edicts



Google Docs recently launched a rollout of new "assistive writing" features, and among them is an "inclusive warning" pop-up that tells users if words they've typed in don't cut the mustard on the woke scale.

What are the details?

The platform gives you the lowdown on its Workspace Updates page, even showing you what happens when a Google Docs user makes the unfortunate choice of typing the non-inclusive term "chairman" into a document. Like a virtual slap on the wrist, the pop-up instructs the user to choose the more inclusive "chairperson":

Image source: Google Docs Workspace Updates user simulation screenshot

'Annoying as hell'

Vice gave the feature a test drive and called it "annoying as hell."

After one of its staffers typed in the word “Motherboard" — the name of the Vice department reporting on the new Google Docs feature — the inclusive warning pop-up indicated that "some of these words may not be inclusive to all readers. Consider using different words.”

The outlet added that journalist Rebecca Baird-Remba tweeted an inclusive warning she received on the word “landlord” — along with the suggestion that she change it to “property owner” or “proprietor.”

Vice also said an excerpt from former President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address was typed in, and a suggestion came back to change the phrase “for all mankind” to “for all humankind.” However, the outlet added that a "transcribed interview of neo-Nazi and former Klan leader David Duke — in which he uses the N-word and talks about hunting black people — gets no notes."

What did Google have to say?

Vice reported that Google said the feature is an “ongoing evolution.”

“Assisted writing uses language understanding models, which rely on millions of common phrases and sentences to automatically learn how people communicate. This also means they can reflect some human cognitive biases,” a Google spokesperson said, according to the outlet. “Our technology is always improving, and we don't yet (and may never) have a complete solution to identifying and mitigating all unwanted word associations and biases.”

In addition, the Workspace Updates page indicates that users can disable the new feature, and they can accept or reject suggestions for new words or phrases.

Anything else?

Vice said if writers want to be "racist, sexist, or exclusionary in their writing, and [want] to draft that up in a Google document, they should be allowed to do that without an algorithm attempting to sanitize their intentions and confuse their readers. This is how we end up with dog whistles."

The outlet added that "trying to shoehorn self-awareness, sensitivity, and careful editing into people’s writing using machine learning algorithms — already deeply flawed, frequently unintelligent pieces of technology — is misguided. Especially when it’s coming from a company that’s grappling with its own internal reckoning in inclusivity, diversity, and mistreatment of workers who stand up for better ethics in AI."

(H/T: Red State)

Google Docs goes woke with 'inclusive' language feature — will bombard users with suggestions when 'ableist' or 'gendered' language is used



Google Docs will roll out a new feature this year prompting users to be more inclusive by suggesting alternatives to "ableist" and "unnecessarily gendered" language.

According to Fox Business, the feature will be introduced as a part of Smart Canvas, a new collaboration tool in Google Workspace designed to make Docs, Sheets, and Slides more "flexible and connected."

What are the details?

While unveiling Smart Canvas at a conference in Mountain View, California, Tuesday, Google general manager Javier Soltero, who oversees Google Workspace, presented what some of the language prompt changes will look like.

One example, which he shared during the conference, demonstrated how Google's revamped assisted writing capabilities would suggest a user change the word "chairman" to "chair" or "chairperson."

In an updated Google developer "inclusive documentation" style guide, the software company previews several other hypothetical suggestions it will make, including changing entire sentences.

If a user writes the sentence, "Before launch, give everything a final sanity-check," Google will suggest writing, "Before launch, give everything a final check for completeness and clarity," instead.

Similarly, if a user writes, "There are some crazy outliers in the data," Google will advise going with, "There are some baffling outliers in the data."

The new assisted writing capabilities will also take aim at gender-exclusive language. The style guide recommends writing "Equipment installation takes around 16 person-hours to complete" rather than "Equipment installation takes around 16 man-hours to complete."

"When trying to achieve a friendly and conversational tone, problematic ableist language might slip in," the style guide explains. "This can come in the form of figures of speech and other turns of phrase."

"Be sensitive to your word choice, especially when aiming for an informal tone," the guide continues. "Ableist language includes words or phrases such as crazy, insane, blind to or blind eye to, cripple, dumb, and others. Choose alternative words depending on the context."

As for gender-inclusive language, the style guide advises that "in addition to being mindful of the pronouns used in narrative examples," users should "be sensitive to other possible sources of gendered language."

What else?

The style guide also recommends users not be "too culturally specific to the US" and to be "mindful when referring to specific holidays."

Furthermore, it advises users to "avoid referring to people in divisive ways" and "avoid using socially-charged terms for technical concepts where possible."

As examples, Google recommends users avoid "referring to people as native speakers or non-native speakers of English" and avoid using terms "such as blacklist, native feature, and first-class citizen, even though these terms might still be widely used."