The first notable feature is Help Me Write, which works in every text box. Select the text in any text box and right-click—you’ll see a box next to the standard right-click context menu. You can ask Google’s AI to rewrite selected text, rephrase it in a specific way, or change the tone. I tried to use it in a few sentences in this story but didn’t like any of the suggestions it gave me, so your wording may vary. Or maybe I’m a better writer than Google’s AI. Who knows?
Google is bringing the same creative AI wallpaper system you find on Android to ChromeOS. You can access this feature in ChromeOS’s wallpaper settings and create images based on specific parameters. Oddly, you can also create these while using a video calling app. You will see a menu option next to the system tray whenever the microphone and video camera are being accessed — tap it and click “Generate with AI” and you can create an image for the call background phone your video. I’m not sure why I wanted the background to be “surrealistic bicycle made of pink and purple flowers,” but there you go. WHO!
Here’s something a little more useful: Magic Editor in Google Photos. Yep, same feature launched on Google’s Pixel 8 smartphone now available on Chromebook Plus laptops. In the Google Photos app, you can tap Edit on a photo and you’ll see the Magic Editor option. (You’ll need to download additional editing tools to get started.) This feature allows you to remove unwanted objects in your photo, move the subject to another area of the frame, and fill in the background. image. I successfully removed a can of paint from the background of my dog photo and it worked pretty quickly.
Then there’s Gemini. It’s available as a standalone app, and you can ask it to do almost anything. Write cover letters, break down complex topics, ask for travel tips for a specific country. You know, just double check the results and do it certainly no hallucinations. If you want to go with Google’s Gemini Advanced model, the company says it’s offering 12 months free to new Chromebook Plus owners until the end of the year, so you have some time to redeem that offer. Technically, this is an upgrade from Google One and gets you Gemini for Workspace, 2 terabytes of storage, and some other perks.
