Google wants you to help sculpt the future of AI – here’s how you can get involved
Generative AI inside Google Docs and Gmail rolled out a few weeks ago to select users in exchange for their services, with Google wanting guinea pigs to test its product and raise any issues or concerns. Now, it’s going further.
A tweet (opens in new tab) by the company explained that its Trusted Tester program has expanded “by more than 10x” as the free office software provider begins to inch forward to general availability. Again, users are being encouraged to respond to the company with feedback.
Despite potentially thousands more Google Workspace users becoming eligible overnight, testing of in-app generative AI is limited to US users only, though the company has indicated that more languages and countries will gain support following more testing.
Gmail and Docs generative AI
Those who have recently gained access should use at least six words and provide context such as recipient, topic, and tone, in order to get the best results.
The generated response can then be recreated entirely, or refined with the following four options: formalize, elaborate, shorten, or “I’m Feeling Lucky” to add creative flair.
Already, feedback has started rolling in online, with one Twitter user commenting that they had hoped to be able to use the built-in AI assistant to tweak existing text, but rather, it requires input.
While Google initially looks to be trying out generative AI in Docs and Gmail, it is available on mobile as well as the web.
Beyond these products, plans have been drawn up for Sheets and Slides, as well as collaboration tool Chat and video conferencing platform Meet.
Workers and companies committed to Microsoft’s range of products can expect its counterpart – Microsoft 365 Copilot – to be rolling out across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Viva, Power Platform, and more, over the course of the coming months, as the two companies continue to battle it out in the AI arena.