5 ways to supercharge your work with Duet AI

Editorial note: Duet AI for Google Workspace is now Gemini for Google Workspace. Learn more.

As we gear up for an amazing lineup of Workspace sessions at Google Cloud Next — live August 29-31 in San Francisco, and online here for those who can’t make it — we’re thinking about all the ways generative AI can help teams transform how work happens. For a deep dive into how it can help with personal productivity, we asked Google’s productivity expert, Laura Mae Martin, to byline this month’s newsletter. 

As Google’s Productivity Advisor, I’ve done a lot of writing, talking, and coaching on personal productivity over the years. I’ve explored topics ranging from driving more impact while prioritizing your wellbeing to organizing your inbox with filters in Gmail.

Personal productivity is all about simplifying how you work so you can tackle your top priorities with intention — and without burnout. Any technology that can help me find the right words, turn ideas into images, organize and understand projects, or connect with people more effortlessly is bound to help me deepen my own impact. As I’ve started to use Duet AI in Google Workspace, I’ve discovered new ways it can help me get more done.

Here are 5 ways I’m becoming more productive with Duet AI: 

1. Email on the go

Whether I’m in a waiting room or at an airport terminal, unexpected downtime is a chance to clear out my inbox. Duet AI in Gmail mobile makes emailing on the go easier. Let’s say I’m responding to an email about ideas for a new productivity video series. I can type a simple prompt into the help me write feature like “ask for more info about the proposed topics,” and Duet AI will create a well-written email draft. I can also make edits to the draft with prompts to change the length, tone, and structure in a couple of taps.

2. Move beyond the blank page

Overcoming the blinking cursor is often the most challenging part of the writing process. When it’s time to create an outline for the first episode in that productivity video series, I can write a Duet AI prompt in Docs with my topic and a few bullets to help me develop a first draft. Of course, I still have creative control. I can keep what works, change what doesn’t, or ask for a new option altogether — but it gets me to a good starting point faster.

3. Create eye-catching presentations

Creating unique images for presentations used to take more time and skill than I usually had. But with Duet AI in Slides, all it takes is a few clicks. If I want to create a diagram that explains a concept for the productivity video series I’m working on, I can use the help me visualize capability to generate a collection of options. I’ll give it a prompt like “Show me a productive at-home work setup.” I then get to choose a visual style, from sketch to photography and everything in between. When it’s time to share ideas with a team, I can show them what I have in mind while I talk them through it. That’s productivity at its best.

Here is a recent image Duet AI generated for me (in less than 20 seconds!) when I prompted it to help me visualize a productive work-from-home setup (I chose “Photography” as a style):

4. Simplify project management

It can take just as much time and effort to manage a project as it does to execute it. That’s where the help me organize capability in Sheets comes in. When I’m shooting an episode of my productivity video series, I need to keep track of production schedules. I can ask Sheets to create a custom project tracker including each video’s status, action items, deadlines, and anything else I need to keep things moving. Duet AI uses context to automatically classify and label all the data in my spreadsheet. Less time tinkering with cells means more time for creative execution.

5. Collaborate from anywhere

Occasionally, I like to work from my local coffee shop. But the noise and spotty Wi-Fi used to make video calls there less productive. Now, Duet AI automatically reduces background noise, enhances image quality, and even restores distorted voices when there’s a poor connection. It helps me show up the way I want to in meetings. I’m also loving the live and translated automatic captions in Meet — powered by AI — that can make international meetings more accessible and inclusive for everyone.

Prioritize what matters

These are just a few examples of how Duet AI is saving me time and improving my productivity. The less effort it takes to get things done, the more time I have to tackle other things — and make them better. And prioritizing my focus on the things that matter most makes work more rewarding. With AI as our collaborative partner, we can all simplify our tasks and deepen our impact. 

For more productivity tips, check out my YouTube playlist here.