LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Google announced last week that its Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology would be going further than ever before as it is incorporated into Google Workspace for users across its many functions including Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, Meet, and Chat.

“Google Workspace brings us together,” a Google Ad stated in a video, “To connect, create, and collaborate.” 

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In the nearly two minute advertisement, the video demonstrates that a user could ask the AI, “Catch me up on this email conversation.” From there, the AI will create a “Conversation Summary,” which summarizes the email chain for the user and can subsequently be used to manufacture a reply to the series of emails too. 

The AI could also be used to write a brief based on an email chain, even changing the tone of the writing to be “more whimsical” if the user wanted. 

Similarly, Google Slides can be utilized to “build a presentation about the campaign,” which would completely generate a presentation for the user based on the data from the emails, demonstrating cross-platform capabilities. AI could also capture notes based on a virtual meeting. 

Additionally, users could ask the AI to “personalize messages for our clients,” then panning to a screen of the Google Sheets with a table of clients, in which the software almost instantaneously creates unique and varied messages for the list of clients. 

AI could also be used to “draft a thank you note to the team” according to the ad, before showing an entire thank you note creation by the AI on a cellphone screen. 

Advocates such as AI Co-Founder and President of Octane AI, Ben Parr, have expressed their excitement about the new developments. 

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“The idea that you had to build a presentation from scratch or write any document from scratch is dead. Or it will soon be. Google Workspace is used by hundreds of millions of people (maybe more?), and generative AI being prominent in all of their apps will supercharge adoption,” he said in a review. 

Parr also suggested that the cross-platform nature of Google’s new AI is the “biggest benefit.” 

“It allows you to no longer copy and paste content from one app to another, and instead think of them as all one application. Taking content from an email and having AI rewrite it in a Google Doc? Spinning up a presentation from a Google Doc? *Chef’s kiss*,” he continued. 

The announcement comes after the rise of the similar AI technology, ChatGPT, whose notoriety for its advanced AI capabilities which can aid users from tasks such as students creating study guides for a Biology exam to others including making mock stand up comedy performances based on any comedian.  Professors and teachers alike have articulated their concerns as students can use the technology to generate entire essays, or even take online tests. 

The penultimate version of the technology, GPT-3.5, scored in the 40th percentile on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), 25th percentile on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Quantitative, and 10th percentile on the Uniform Bar Exam.  However, the newest version has outperformed its predecessor accomplishing a score in the 88th percentile on the LSAT, 80th percentile on the GRE, and 90th percentile on the Bar Exam according to statistics from OpenAI.  

Studies have shown that ChatGPT cheating is on the rise among students, not only in K-12 schools but also among college professors.  Another survey of 1,000 students conducted by Intelligent Magazine, 64% of those surveyed indicated that they used it at least once on an assignment.  

While less than 5% admitted to using the AI technology on almost all their written assignments, 20% of those surveyed use it at least 75% to help with completing written assignments.  The rise of AI technologies used in the classroom has sparked debate about whether its potential use for cheating outweighs its use for other purposes. 

The AI market was valued at 328.34 billion in 2021 according to a Fortune Business Insights study, projecting that it would grow to $1.4 billion by 2029.  A Society of Human Resources Management survey from February 2022 found that 79% of employers use A.I. and/ or automation for recruitment and hiring already. 

However, the use of AI, as demonstrated in the Google Workplace AI ad, illustrates how this technology extends beyond the classroom, and can automate a plethora of workplace tasks;  optimizing the time it takes to complete tasks, but also removes the personal element of functions such as emails and thank you notes.