New previews include automated email, AI modeling and developer tools. Credit: Magdalena Petrova Computing giant Google announced today that it will release previews of three new AI features, including AI composition for Google Workspace, developer prototyping and coding via PaLM and MakerSuite, and validated models for its Vertex AI service. The Workspace features, currently, are focused on Docs and Gmail. Users can use Google’s AI to rewrite emails in a particular style or tone, or even generate documents out of whole cloth. Simply asking the system to “generate a sales pitch” or similar will create a simple document that users can then edit to meet their needs. The AI can also help redraft documents to fit a more formal tone, or shorten them for brevity. According to Gartner vice president Sid Nag, this functionality builds on features that Google has had for some time. “They’ve had smart compose forever — that’s all part of the language model capability,” he said. “Now they’re taking it to the next level where they’re applying the generative AI functionality on top of it.” PaLM API allows connection to large language models The other two major announcements focus more on developers and enterprise users — the first is a PaLM API that, according to the company’s official blog, is designed as an easy point of entry to use Google’s large language models for anything from content generation and chat to more general purpose analysis. That API works alongside a tool called MakerSuite, which can be used to create sample code for developers. “It essentially allows you to quickly prototype ideas for prompt engineering and custom model tuning,” Nag said. The final major piece announced today by Google is the new functionality for Vertex AI, which is aimed at letting companies use Google’s own technology to create and customize their own AI applications. The Generative AI App Builder lets users use preset templates to automatically generate bots, custom search engines and even digital assistants very quickly, while the generative AI support coming to Vertex lets them build and customize in a more granular way. “Google’s launch of the preview of its generative AI offerings is a significant step in advancing the Vertex platform,” said Rowan Curran, a Forrester analyst. “The AI/ML platform market is moving quickly to adopt generative AI capabilities and Google’s announced functionality is similar to what we have seen from of the other major players in the space.” Google said that it will make the new capabilities available to “trusted testers” throughout the year before rolling them out publicly. Related content news analysis Apple confirms it will open up the iPad in Europe this fall The latest efforts to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act mean developers can offer to side load apps to both iPhones and iPads in the EU. Apple has also taken steps to improve what it offers to smaller and non-commercial developers in the By Jonny Evans May 02, 2024 6 mins iPad Apple Mobile Apps news Udacity offers laid-off US workers free access to its courses for 30 days Sign-ups will be available over the next 30 days By Lucas Mearian May 02, 2024 4 mins Technology Industry IT Jobs IT Skills opinion Why you’ll soon have a digital clone of your own AI isn’t going to replace you at work. You will. By Mike Elgan May 02, 2024 7 mins Augmented Reality Generative AI Virtual Reality news analysis Workers with these AI skills are getting cash premiums As AI deployments become more critical to digital transformation projects, organizations are struggling to find skilled workers to support the new technology, so they're paying premiums for prospective hires or current employees who obtain the n By Lucas Mearian May 01, 2024 7 mins Generative AI IT Jobs IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe