Your Google Drive PDFs Are Getting Actionable AI Brainpower

Google has been integrating Gemini into several different areas of Android and the desktop experience since it was first rolled out, such as the recently launched Scheduled Actions, and now that includes additional areas of Google Drive with a newly added feature for PDF actions. Specifically, Drive now supports what Google is calling PDF Summary Cards.

These new summary cards will populate a side panel that opens up on the right after the user opens a PDF file in Drive. The summaries contain a host of relevant information about the file, and as you would expect, they pick out the most important details. These are then listed on the card as key highlights. Users will also have options to “show more” if the highlights aren’t providing as much information as they’d like. Google Drive also recently added an AI feature that summarizes changes in shared files. So, it’s clear that Google wants to bake AI into more of its everyday tools.

Google Drive PDF summary cards will provide clickable actions

The summary cards themselves will already be a useful addition to Drive for anyone who uses the tool for work purposes. They have additional functions, though, as Google notes that the cards will also have clickable actions based on the information in the PDF, which Gemini can then execute.

Google gives a few examples of these actions, such as drafting a sample proposal or listing interview questions based on a resume. There will be more potential actions as well. For instance, users could click an action that tells Gemini to summarize the key points in a table. It’s also going to be possible to ask Gemini questions. Users can even give a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Presumably, to let Google know whether or not the summary card was actually useful to them.

Summary cards will support more than 20 languages, and began rolling out on June 12

Gemini-powered summary cards started rolling out for Drive on June 12, but it might be a little while before you see availability. Google says it could take up to 15 days for feature visibility. With that in mind, it could be toward the end of the month before you have access.

This is also a feature that appears to be for Google Workspace accounts only. Not personal accounts. According to Google, availability is there for plans on Business Standard and Plus, Education Standard and Plus, users who have the Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium add-ons, and workspace accounts that have Google AI Pro or Google AI Ultra.

The feature is also available for users in over 20 languages. This includes English, as well as Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, and several others.