How to Use AI to Summarize a Google Doc

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Two things I believe all digital nomads need are a great hotspot and streamlined productivity. So I was eager to implement another artificial intelligence tool, particularly one named after a personal favorite self-study, into my writing-focused workday.

On Dec. 6, 2023 -- a little less than 8 months after OpenAI's GPT-4 launch -- Google Workspace welcomed Gemini, its new AI-powered assistant, to the digital world.

While the name doesn't coincide with its launch date (and in fact the tool went by a different name, Bard, originally), Gemini was named after the astrological symbol's dual-natured personality -- the ability to adapt quickly and connect to a wide range of people, all while seeing things from multiple perspectives.

Gemini got its new name "because we wanted to bring teams working on language modeling closer together," said Jeff Dean, Gemini's co-technical lead.

I was able to access Gemini free for 14 days since I have a business domain through Google Workspace. I was given 30% off the monthly price for three months ($16.80) following my free trial. Then my monthly bill went up to $24. You can read CNET's full hands-on review of Gemini here, as well as competitor AI tools Perplexity, Copilot and Claude.

In those short two weeks, I had the opportunity to navigate its "Help me write" prompt to suggest texts based on what I inserted into the text screen. This can include drafts for a blog post, help writing song lyrics and rewriting original text to edit for tone or to be concise.

Additionally, you can use Gemini in Google Docs to summarize files from Google Drive and emails from Gmail and create images.

For now, we're focusing on summarizing Google Docs. For more ways to use AI, check out our pieces on how to use AI-powered Grammarly to do all of your editing and how to use Zoom AI as your next project manager.

How to use AI to summarize a Google Doc

Step 1: Open a document on Google Docs and highlight to select the text you would like Gemini to help you summarize.

Step 2: Click Help me write to the right of the selected text, and choose what you'd like to implement from the drop-down menu -- in addition to Summarize, options include Tone, Bulletize, Elaborate, Shorten, Rephrase or Custom (write your own prompt).

Step 3: Click Summarize and see what Gemini comes back with, making sure to double check that it understood your document and what was important (and ensure the AI tool didn't hallucinate).

Step 4: An interesting addition to Google Docs is the ability to provide feedback on the generated text. After creating your summary, you can note whether Gemini has provided a good or bad suggestion, edit the prompt to update and regenerate text or create a new version of previously written text and click retry.

You can also provide general feedback on this feature by navigating to Help > Help Docs improve. If necessary, you can also report a legal concern.

To turn off the "Help me write" AI-powered prompt, you must exit Workspace Labs. If you exit, "you will permanently lose access to all Workspace Labs features, and you won't be able to rejoin Workspace Labs." You can learn more about how to exit Workplace Labs here.

Should you use Google Workspace Gemini?

Gemini calls its AI writing tool "a useful and interesting resource" if you like finding patterns and connections.

I agree. I decided to implement Google Workspace Gemini because of a desire to expedite and streamline writing processes. But I also decided to purchase a monthly Gemini membership because of how seamlessly it integrated with all the other Google products I regularly use.

And I'd agree with its AI-powered conclusion: Gemini is a valuable asset for anyone looking to improve their productivity and creativity, particularly if you're seeking a solution for a productivity or creativity problem accompanied by a small budget or team.

In my digital toolbox, this AI addition truly does help me navigate the most efficient pathway to writing emails and documents.

You can check out the Gemini-powered summary of this human-written article below to see how accurate this AI tool can be.

Screenshot by CNET