Google’s New AI Tool Turns Boring Documents Into Flashy Videos at Work

Google Workspace is already chock-full of helpful productivity resources. However, with the world becoming more and more visual, paired with shorter and shorter attention spans, Google is using Gemini to add an AI-powered video generator to its collaboration suite.

Google Vids Is Coming to Workspace

Following the succinct style of “Docs” and “Sheets,” Google is rolling out “Vids,” an AI-powered video creator, to select Workspace editions. This means that if you use the productivity suite at the office, you can look forward to a fun new visual tool, pitched as a way to “tell compelling stories at work,” according to an announcement on Google’s Workspace Updates Blog.

The Time-Saving Power of Google Vids

Reportedly, Google Vids will be able to generate videos using Google’s AI-powered assistant, Gemini. The app, which can produce content based on text prompts, an uploaded document, or a recording of your voice, seems to be the latest example of how Google’s Gemini extension makes Workspace more efficient.

The tool will assemble suggested scenes based on your initial input, essentially delivering a first draft of a video presentation. The draft will include background music, recommended stock footage and text, and it can even produce a script to use to record voiceover.

However, don’t fret: if you hate the sound of your own voice, Vids can handle that for you, too. Similar to other online tools that generate voiceover for you, Vids will give you multiple voice options to choose from.

The idea is that Vids could be an incredible time-saver for work presentations that may have had you scratching your head for days, such as:

• Product demos
• How-to tutorials or employee onboarding videos
• Event recaps
• Vendor outreach content
• Project or milestone updates
• Campaign or design reviews

So: Who Really Has Access to Google Vids?

As a reminder, this tool is currently rolling out for those who manage or work on a Google Workspace platform, not general Google consumers. To clarify, here is the list of subscriptions that will have access to Vids as it rolls out over the next couple weeks:

Vids will also be accessible if you or your company has a “Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education or Education Premium add-on,” according to Google’s Workspace Updates Blog.

Google Vids may not be able to make a Hollywood blockbuster (yet), but it sure seems like a useful tool to create productivity assets like training tutorials. As a writer of tutorials, I can certainly understand how helpful videos can be in walking through steps. And as a video creator, I still believe that the human touch will always be necessary, no matter how advanced AI technology becomes. Maybe that’s just the optimist in me.