Google Workspace users will now be able to generate images of people using Gemini, the company announced on Friday. The new capability is part of the Mountain View-based tech giant’s recent Workspace update that also adds a couple of other artificial intelligence (AI) features. Interestingly, the tech giant rolled back Gemini’s ability to generate images with people in them in February 2024, after the AI model was spotted generating inaccurate and biased images, that could potentially increase the risk of deepfakes.
Google Workspace Is Getting New Features
In a blog post, the tech giant introduced new features for Google Workspace users. The company had earlier ditched the Gemini add-on and integrated the AI features within the Workspace subscription. Now, it is rolling out the first set of Gemini features to all of its paid subscribers.
The most notable among them is Gemini’s ability to generate images with people in them. The feature is powered by the Imagen 3 AI model. After rolling back the feature, Google re-introduced the ability in early access in August 2024. At the time, the company said that it had added in-built safeguards to mitigate the risk of deepfakes. Additionally, SynthID is also being used to watermark the AI-generated images.
Google said Workspace users will now be able to generate images of people in the Gemini mobile apps as well as via Gemini Advanced. The feature will also work in the side panel of Google Docs, Sheets, Drive, Slides, and Gmail. The capability is currently being rolled out and is expected to reach all eligible users globally by March 1. Those on the free tiers still cannot generate images with people in them.
Another new feature being introduced with the update is the ability to insert Gemini responses directly into email drafts in the Gmail app. Users can now open Gemini in the Gmail app and ask the chatbot a question about the email or the inbox. Once the response is generated, they can tap the insert arrow on Android or the Insert button on iOS to quickly insert the response. Notably, this feature was first reported last month.
Finally, the tech giant is also introducing quick commands in the Google Chat app for enterprises. This is aimed at developers, who will now be able to invoke an app command directly without having to type the slash command. These commands can be configured via the Chat application programming interface (API) page and can be accessed by clicking the plus button next to the compose box.
