The next generation of AI: for developers and Google Workspace

Google is bringing the power of generative AI to developers and businesses through Google Cloud and MakerSuite. And they are introducing new AI-powered features in Google Workspace. https://youtu.be/6DaJVZBXETE Google has been investing in AI for many years and bringing its benefits to individuals, businesses and communities. Whether it’s publishing state-of-the-art research, building helpful products or developing tools and resources that enable others, they are committed to making AI accessible to everyone.

Google is now at a pivotal moment in their AI journey. Breakthroughs in generative AI are fundamentally changing how people interact with technology — Google has been responsibly developing large language models with an aim to safely bring them to Google products.

What`s the early progress? Developers and businesses can now try new APIs and products that make it easy, safe and scalable to start building with Google’s best AI models through Google Cloud and a new prototyping environment called MakerSuite. And in Google Workspace, they are introducing new features that help people harness the power of generative AI to create, connect and collaborate.

PaLM API & MakerSuite: An approachable way to explore and prototype with generative AI applications

So many technology and platform shifts — from mobile to cloud computing — have inspired entire ecosystems of developers to start new businesses, imagine new products, and transform how they create. We’re in the midst of another shift with AI that is having a profound effect on every industry.

For developers who are experimenting with AI, Google is introducing the PaLM API, an easy and safe way to build on top of best language models. Google is making an efficient model available, in terms of size and capabilities, and they will add other sizes soon. The API also comes with an intuitive tool called MakerSuite, which lets you quickly prototype ideas and, over time, will have features for prompt engineering, synthetic data generation and custom-model tuning — all supported by robust safety tools. Selected developers can access the PaLM API and MakerSuite in Private Preview today, but others should stay tuned for waitlist.

Bringing generative AI capabilities to Google Cloud

For developers who want to build and customize their own models and apps using generative AI, they can access Google’s AI models, including PaLM, on Google Cloud. Google is bringing new generative AI capabilities to Google Cloud AI portfolio to help developers and organizations access enterprise-level safety, security, privacy, as well as integrate with their existing Cloud solutions:

• Generative AI support in Vertex AI: Developers and businesses already use Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform to build and deploy machine learning models and AI applications at scale. Google is now providing foundation models, initially for generating text and images, and over time with audio and video. Google Cloud customers will have the ability to discover models, create and modify prompts, fine tune them with their own data, and deploy applications that use these powerful new technologies.
• Generative AI App Builder: Businesses and governments also want to build their own AI-powered chat interfaces and digital assistants. To enable this, Google is introducing Generative AI App Builder, which connects conversational AI flows with out of the box search experiences and foundation models — helping companies build generative AI applications in minutes or hours.
• New AI partnerships and programs: In addition to announcing new Google Cloud AI products, Google is also committed to being the most open cloud provider. They are expanding AI ecosystem and specialized programs for technology partners, AI-focused software providers and startups.

Starting today, trusted testers are accessing Vertex AI with Generative AI support and Generative AI App Builder.

New generative AI features in Workspace

More than 3 billion people already benefit from AI-powered features in Google Workspace, whether it’s using Smart Compose in Gmail or auto-generated summaries in Google Docs. Now, Google is excited to take the next step and bring a limited set of trusted testers a new set of features that makes the process of writing even easier. 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. So if you’re a manager onboarding a new employee, Workspace saves you the time and effort involved in writing that first welcome email. From there, you can elaborate upon or abbreviate the message or adjust the tone to be more playful or professional — all in just a few clicks. Google will be rolling out these new experiences to testers in the coming weeks.

Generative AI in Docs helping to write a job description.

  In a sample demo (GIF above), a user is shown the prompt “Help me write” and then enters a request: “Job post for a regional sales rep.” The AI system then completes the job spec for them in seconds, letting them edit and refine the text. Google expands on these potential functions in its press release: “Whether you’re a busy HR professional who needs to create customized job descriptions, or a parent drafting the invitation for your child’s pirate-themed birthday party, Workspace saves you the time and effort of writing that first version. Simply type a topic you’d like to write about, and a draft will instantly be generated for you. With your collaborative Al partner you can continue to refine and edit, getting more suggestions as needed.” A similar feature will let users rewrite text or expand it using AI tools. So, says Google, you might jot down a few bullet points about a work meeting. Google Docs can then expand this into a “more polished summary,” with users able to manually specify the tone (whether it should be “more whimsical” or “formal,” for example). In a video demo, Google shows AI being used to write personalized marketing messages for clients, turning bullet points into a full email, and summarizing the contents of a long email chain in Gmail.    A GIF showing Google’s AI tools in Gmail expanding on bullet points.  

Scaling AI responsibly

Generative AI is an emerging and rapidly evolving technology with complex challenges. That’s why Google invites external and internal testers to pressure test new experiences, and why they have AI Principles to guide this work. These principles also serve as an ongoing commitment to their customers worldwide who rely on Google products to build and grow their businesses safely with AI. The goal of the tech-giant is to continue to be bold and responsible in their approach and partner with others to improve Google`s AI models so they’re safe and helpful for everyone.

We’re all so excited by the potential of generative AI, and the opportunities it will unlock — from helping people express themselves creatively, to helping developers build brand new types of applications, to transforming how businesses and governments engage their customers and constituents. Stay tuned for more to come in the weeks and months ahead.

You can see below the full list of AI-powered features Google says will be coming to Workspace apps in the future:

• Draft, reply, summarize, and prioritize your Gmail
• Brainstorm, proofread, write, and rewrite in Docs
• Bring your creative vision to life with auto-generated images, audio, and video in Slides
• Go from raw data to insights and analysis via auto-completion, formula generation, and contextual categorization in Sheets
• Generate new backgrounds and capture notes in Meet
• Enable workflows for getting things done in Chat

  Source: Google & Verge  

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