It was only a matter of time until Google made a big announcement regarding artificial intelligence in their productivity tools. That announcement came today. 

All of the details about Google’s implementation of AI in Google Workspace can be read here. The short version is that new AI features will be added to Google Docs and Gmail throughout the course of this year. Those new features will be used to generate suggestions for rewriting selected sections of your Google Docs and selected sections of messages that you compose in Gmail. 

Other AI features in Google Workspace to look for later this year include auto-generated images and videos in Slides, data analysis tools in Sheets, and notes capture in Google Meet. 

Applications for Education

I didn’t see anything in today’s announcement that specifically mentioned whether or not these AI tools will be available in Google Workspace for Education accounts. It will be interesting to see how Google addresses that moving forward. An AI-powered rewrite function in Google Docs could have a significant impact on how we teach the writing process. Likewise, auto-generated images and slides could have a significant impact on how we teach students to design presentations.