When ChatGPT kicked off a generative AI frenzy in November, 2022, companies quickly took note of its massive potential to increase work productivity.
There's ChatGPT, Bing, and Bard that are all free, standalone AI chatbots to be used for general purposes (to varying degrees of success). But then there are generative AI tools that get integrated into the work software you already use. Because they can access emails, CRMs, documents, and other work-related info (still getting used to that), generative AI tools for work can basically function as your personal assistant. Thanks to large language models like GPT-4, these tools can summarize and explain text, draft copy, compose emails, transcribe meetings, create agendas and notes, and even analyze spreadsheet data.
That said, the common theme amongst tech companies recently is to make a huge splashy announcement about some transformative new AI tool...accompanied by only a vague timeline of availability. However, we've finally reached a moment when they're starting to roll out. We've compiled a list of the major generative AI tools that are live or soon to be live, and how to get access.
But before you attempt to automate your entire worklife, it's important to know your company's policies on third party app usage, its stance on AI in general, and the relevant laws, regulations, and disclosure requirements. It's also important to drill down on some of the fine print, so there'll be no surprises about how the information you share with generative AI tools is stored and used.
With all that out of the way, here's what's on offer:
Microsoft 365 Copilot
After Microsoft announced the new Bing powered by GPT-4, it swiftly followed up with Copilot, which uses large language models to automate tasks within its portfolio of work apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams. With Copilot, users can use generative AI to draft text in Word, create slideshows in PowerPoint from a simple prompt, and analyze data in Excel to generate charts and graphs.
In Outlook, Copilot can summarize email threads and compose emails, and in Teams it can create summaries of meetings in real time if you're running late and need to catch up on what you missed.
Currently, Copilot is only available to enterprises via an invitation-only paid preview program. Microsoft says it plans to expand access over time, but doesn't give specifics on exactly when.
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Google Duet AI
Google went hard on generative AI announcements at I/O, its annual developers conference. The company is rolling out a collection of tools for its Workspace apps called Duet AI. In Gmail and Docs, users can click the "Help me write" icon and ask the tool to help compose an email or write a draft of something like a job description. In Gmail, Duet AI can understand the context of an email you received, and calibrate your response to be shorter, more elaborate, or formal.
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Google Slides now has an image generator tool, where you can create visuals from a text prompt like "woman laughing alone with salad" for a presentation on the history of women in memes in Google Sheets.
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Duet AI can also automatically organize data within a spreadsheet and design a custom plan for managing projects with a prompt like "roster of attendees for pickleball tournament."
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For now, Duet AI tools are only available, or soon to be available, in a testing environment called Labs. Currently, only trusted testers have access to Labs, but you can sign up for the waitlist for when Google rolls out access more broadly.
Zoom IQ
Not to be outdone by Microsoft Teams, Zoom launched some of its own AI-powered features for video conferencing. Zoom IQ, which is the name for Zoom's collection of smart tools, now has the ability to summarize meetings in real time, powered by OpenAI's API.
Zoom IQ can also kick off brainstorming sessions based on text prompts in its whiteboard tool, summarize conversations from Zoom chats, draft emails based on those conversations, and write up an agenda for future meetings about that topic. Zoom IQ chat, and Zoom's AI email composition and meeting summarization features will be available to paid subscribers and as a free trial in the coming weeks.
Slack GPT
ChatGPT's summarizing and analyzing skills have entered the Slack channel. A ChatGPT plugin for Slack is already available as a bot that that you can tag and ask to summarize or draft messages. But soon, Slack GPT will have natively embedded summarization and text generation within Slack's existing features. Instead of tagging a bot, you can summarize unread messages in a channel with the click of a button, or click the star icon in the toolbar to compose or refine a message. Slack GPT can also automatically transcribe Huddles into notes. Slack GPT will be released later this year.
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GrammarlyGO
Grammarly is already a popular grammar app, and now it is expanding beyond grammar and spell-checking to actually writing the thing for you. GrammarlyGO exists within its apps and browser extensions as a new tool that can generate text, refine existing text for tone, and help you brainstorm ideas with simple prompts.
Grammarly Business is also rolling out new features in June that include email composition and summarization that can be integrated into Gmail and Slack. GrammarlyGO is available now and free to use for up to 100 prompts per month. Paid plans will get you more prompts and more writing assistance.
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