Generative AI has taken the world by storm. While Google has been a few steps behind the competition, it’s catching up. Google integrated Gemini AI into its Workspace suite as Microsoft did with Copilot. This feature integrates with Google Workspace apps, including Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Gmail, and helps people be more productive. This guide explains Gemini for Google Workspace and why it’s a big deal. Put in your wireless earbuds, play your favorite music, and let’s get started.
Google Workspace: Everything you need to know about Google’s collaborative workplace platform
Google Workspace is essential for WFH and hybrid work
Gemini for Google Workspace explained
Gemini for Google Workspace uses generative AI features for text generation and summarization, image generation from prompts, data organization, and more. The strategy involves integrating AI throughout Google’s ecosystem, making an AI assistant a core feature of Google Workspace. Gemini is a collaborative partner, coach, inspiration source, and productivity booster, ensuring every user and organization has control over their data.
The search giant gave several examples, showcasing how Gemini can be a valuable addition to its Workspace users. Let’s go over these examples to show what to expect from Gemini for Google Workspace.
Help me write: Craft email responses and documents
If you have used or heard about ChatGPT, you are familiar with the new help me write feature. It uses the Gemini large language model to create email responses and documents based on prompts you input. It also proofreads writing for grammar and spelling errors and provides styling suggestions.
Click the magic wand button to access the Gemini interface. For example, in the Gmail web app, click the button and give a prompt to generate an email or ask it to write a reply to emails. You can also ask it to write an essay on Google Docs.
Help me write means you won’t face a blank page. Gemini generates content you can use as a stepping stone to craft your emails and documents. You can also draft your document and let Google’s AI refine it. You can choose from Formalize to make it more formal, Elaborate to add more details, Shorten to condense your text, or I’m Feeling Lucky for a creative touch.
AI building blocks in Google Docs
One exciting feature of Gemini is the AI building blocks feature in Google Docs. It works with the help me write feature and allows businesses to create personalized content in minutes.
For example, when you ask Gemini to create a job post description, it adds smart chips for details like status, location, and company name, allowing you to edit and personalize the content for your business. For example, if you want to post a job for a company’s site in Denver, click the location smart chip, search for Denver, and add it as a location requirement.
Finally, finding the right prompts is the hardest part of working with generative AI. Google tackles this issue by allowing its artificial intelligence to give prompt suggestions. Gemini generates contextual prompts by analyzing your document’s content by using Automatic Prompt Engineering.
If you haven’t used the Generative AI tools from Microsoft or OpenAI because you don’t know how to create good prompts, Gemini might solve this issue.
What is generative AI?
An agent of the human will, an amplifier of human cognition. Discover the power of generative AI
Help me design: Generative images in Google Slides
One of the most impressive features of Gemini is coming to the Google Slides app. Creating and adding images to your slides becomes easy with Gemini embedded into the Google Slides app. No more hunting for photos on Google.
Use the toolbar and click Create image with Gemini. In the panel that appears, prompt for the image you want to create. Gemini creates six to eight images, allowing you to choose the best option. You can also select an image and refine its content with further prompts or add a style to get the best results.
Help me organize: Analyze data on Google Sheets
The hardest part of running a business is organizing and analyzing data to get function action points. Gemini is here to help with this aspect of your business. It starts with the new Help me organize feature, which allows Google Workspace users to create custom plans for projects and activities.
Describe what you want to accomplish, and Gemini generates a custom action plan in Google Sheets to get you started. The new data classification tools understand the context of data in cells and automatically apply labels, saving you from manual data entry chores.
Gemini also detects incomplete column pairs and predicts remaining values automatically. It finishes filling out a feedback categorization column based on existing data.
Help me connect: Custom backgrounds, quality videos & more
Google Meet is also getting the Gemini integration. You can generate unique custom backgrounds for Google Meet meetings, hiding your surroundings to protect your privacy. The studio look feature upgrades your image to studio quality when dealing with low-quality video from poor lighting or a basic webcam.
Studio lighting ensures you’re well-lit for every meeting, while studio sound improves your audio, making your voice clear by fixing missing or distorted frequencies. Finally, translated captions break down language barriers, making your meetings inclusive and collaborative as long as you have an enterprise plan.
How to sign up for Gemini in workspace
You need an existing Workspace plan to use Gemini for workspace. Google Workspace offers three plans that cater to different needs regarding participant capacity, storage, and security. All plans include a 14-day free trial, allowing businesses to test the waters before fully committing.
- Business Starter: Ideal for startups and small businesses. This plan costs $6 a month per user, offering custom email addresses, video meetings for up to 100 participants, and 30GB of Google Drive storage per user, along with security and management features.
- Business Standard: At $12 a month per user, participant capacity is increased to 150, with 2TB of Google Drive storage each, plus meeting recordings in Google Meet.
- Business Plus: For $18 a month per user, the plan comes with up to 500 Google Meet participants, attendance tracking, 5TB Drive storage per user, and advanced security measures, including Vault and endpoint management.
When you have a workspace account, add Gemini to your Workspace plan. Gemini offers two tiers for businesses, each requiring a one-year commitment.
- Gemini Business: Priced at $20 a month per user. This plan includes the Gemini AI assistant across Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and Meet. Subscribers gain access to Gemini 1.0 Ultra, the most advanced Google AI model currently available.
- Gemini Enterprise: This tier builds on the Gemini Business offerings and adds translated captions in over 15 languages to Google Meet for $30 a month per user.
Google Gemini: Microsoft Copilot killer?
Gemini’s integration in Google’s workspace suite is going head-to-head with Microsoft Copilot. We’ll have to wait and see whether it can compete with the latter, as Microsoft has a head start. Until then, check out our selection of the best keyboards, designed to maximize efficiency and comfort during long prompting sessions.
