While opinions may differ regarding how effective AI has been in increasing productivity, it has done a far better job helping to eliminate busy work. Google Slides now can generate presentations with just a prompt, simplifying a task that many simply despise. The move follows Microsoft PowerPoint's similar offering, marking another step in the ongoing competition between the two productivity giants.
Not all meetings require a formal slide presentation to accompany discussion, but many do. Google is launching the ability to "generate presentation" from its Slides site, provided that users have the correct Business and Enterprise Standard and Plus plans on Google Workspace, or a Google AI Pro or AI Ultra subscription. For those without these subscriptions, the default slideshow view remains unchanged.
Prompt-to-deck is a feature that Microsoft has offered in PowerPoint for some time, albeit with its own requirement for an AI subscription. In fact, PowerPoint's home screen plants a large prompt box at the top, inviting users to start. Google's approach, however, emphasizes a more interactive process, recognizing that slideshow creation is driven as much by the software as by the user. Users kick off the process by prompting Slides that they want a presentation deck in a particular format for a specific purpose, using specified materials.
Google's example used a relatively brief prompt. Instead of relying on a lengthy LLM text interface, Slides then inserts a series of cards before the user, asking for source documents, length, and tone. It then creates a basic outline of the deck, with the ability to edit and make changes. From there, edits are made using the traditional text-based Gemini interface. This interaction is something Microsoft sort of skips over. While PowerPoint allows users to upload files and use them in deck creation, Google's method of circling back to ask for specifics and making its own suggestions is appreciated by many.
Since many businesses demand a consistent style, users can point Gemini towards an earlier presentation to adopt those visual elements. This is reminiscent of features like "Format painter" in Excel, where the style of a document is saved as a template. Here, Slides simply pulls those elements from an earlier presentation, ensuring brand consistency without manual effort.
Roughly 30 million to 35 million Microsoft PowerPoint presentations are reportedly created or delivered worldwide each day, according to a Microsoft estimate from 2001, though that figure likely does not include newly authored presentations. How long each presentation takes to manually author has not been definitively nailed down. About two hours for a casual internal briefing seems typical, and anywhere from four to six hours for a more standard deck is a figure used by companies like TextDeck—another AI-generated presentation tool whose business would seem threatened by the new Slides addition. PowerPoint can now generate an AI deck from scratch in less than 10 minutes; while Google's offering hasn't been independently tested yet, the promise is similar.
The whole point of the exercise is that there isn't a whole lot of complexity. Users simply tell Gemini what they want, it completes the task, and then they make final changes. The proof, of course, will be in what it delivers rather than what it promises. There is certainly a lot of disdain for "AI slop" in the market, and smart users will closely scrutinize Gemini's early work until it consistently provides stable, error-free output. However, saving an hour or two on a task many users hate seems like a reasonable use of AI.
Google's entry into this space is significant because of its deep integration with Workspace. Users already rely on Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides for collaboration. The AI prompt-to-deck feature seamlessly ties into this ecosystem, allowing teams to generate presentations from shared documents or previous decks. This could streamline workflows for sales teams, marketing departments, and educators who need to quickly create training materials or pitch decks.
From a historical perspective, the evolution of presentation software has been marked by incremental improvements. Early tools like Harvard Graphics and Lotus Freelance Graphics gave way to PowerPoint, which dominated for decades. Google Slides entered as a web-based alternative, emphasizing collaboration and cloud storage. Now, with AI, the paradigm is shifting from manual design to automated content generation. The underlying technology uses large language models and vision models to understand context, generate slide content, and arrange layout. Google's Gemini, launched in 2023, is a multimodal AI capable of understanding text, images, audio, and more. This allows Slides to interpret complex instructions and deliver polished output.
Competition between Google and Microsoft in the AI space is intense. Microsoft has invested heavily in OpenAI's GPT models and integrated Copilot across Office 365. Google has responded with Gemini and its integration into Workspace. Both companies are vying for enterprise customers by promising productivity gains. The presentation generation feature is likely just the beginning. Future updates could include real-time AI-assisted editing, voice commands, and automated data visualizations from spreadsheets.
Despite the enthusiasm, there are challenges. AI-generated content can be prone to hallucinations, inaccuracies, or bland design. Users must verify facts and customize the output to ensure it meets their needs. Additionally, the subscription cost may be a barrier for small businesses or individual users. Google's AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions are priced higher than standard plans, which could limit adoption. However, for organizations already paying for premium Workspace tiers, the feature adds value without extra cost.
As a society, we are witnessing the gradual disappearance of tedious tasks. Just as GPS and mapping applications replaced paper maps and manual route planning, AI-generated slides may make manual deck creation a thing of the past. The child born in the last century, like the author, remembers hauling out paper maps and laboriously plotting directions. Now, technology handles that. Similarly, future workers might find it quaint that we once spent hours aligning text boxes and choosing fonts.
In summary, Google Slides' new AI prompt-to-deck feature represents a significant step in eliminating busy work. While not perfect, it offers a practical way to produce presentations quickly. As the technology matures, it may become an indispensable tool for professionals worldwide.
Source:PCWorld News