Summary
- Google’s new “Ask about this PDF” feature simplifies navigating lengthy documents.
- The Files by Google app uses AI to summarize PDF files for users.
- Adobe also offers AI tools to assist in processing long PDFs.
If AI is good at anything in particular, it’s breaking down huge amounts of information into smaller, more digestible tidbits. Several AI companies have allowed users to upload PDF files to their service, which is scanned by an LLM and give the user a quick “TL;DR” of what the document says. Now, Google is making it even easier to get through those laboriously long documents in record time.
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Files by Google get a Gemini-based AI PDF analyzer
Source: Nokia
As reported by u/MishaalRahman on the Android subreddit, Google’s new “Ask about this PDF” feature is currently rolling out. We first heard about this feature during Google I/O in May this year, and it’s now ready for people to use.
Using the feature is pretty simple. Once the Files by Google app receives the new update, it’ll notice whenever you open up a PDF within the app. It’ll show a little button labelled “Ask about this PDF” at the bottom. If you tap this, you send the PDF data to Gemini, which will break down the file into a general summary. It seems the feature is not automatic, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it prying into your documents without permission.
If you’re not a fan of Gemini, but you like the idea of having an AI churn through huge PDFs for you, there are plenty of alternative services out there you can try. Even the inventor of the PDF, Adobe, has released its own AI tool to help you get through that one document you can’t bring yourself to go through.