Beyond the usual “new model here, launch drama there,” the real action right now is happening inside the tools we actually use every day.
Yup—Big Tech clearly wants our workflows on autopilot, and this week, they’ve been dropping features like candy at a parade. Instead of zooming in on just one, we’re running through the whole lineup—and letting you decide which one’s worth a spin.
For starters:
Google Docs now does bedtime stories.
Okay, not literally, but Docs can now read your writing back to you
The fun part? You pick the voice, set the speed, and voilà—your essay, email draft, or dramatic resignation letter gets the audiobook treatment. You can even add a “listen” button inside the doc so others can hear it too.
The catch? It only works in English, only on desktop, and only if you’re on Google’s fancy Workspace, AI Pro, or Ultra plans. Basically: still limited, but a neat win if you hate rereading your own work.
Meanwhile, Meta’s expanding it’s AI Translation tool to creators on Facebook and Instagram.
Imagine posting a Reel and—boom—it automatically speaks Spanish while still sounding like you and syncing your lips like a good telenovela dub.
That’s Meta’s AI translation tool.
Right now it:
Works only for English ↔ Spanish (and vice versa)
Rolling out to Facebook creators with 1K+ followers and all public Instagram accounts.
And yes, viewers will see a “translated with Meta AI” tag, so don’t go pretending you suddenly became bilingual overnight. 😂
Lastly, Excel just hired ChatGPT as an intern.
Microsoft is sliding AI straight into your spreadsheets with a shiny new formula named: =COPILOT()
You type stuff like:
=COPILOT("Summarize this feedback", A2:A20)=COPILOT("Write a product description", B2:B8)
…and it fills your cells like magic.
Plus it’s powered by GPT-4.1-mini, but heads up:
You only get 100 requests every 10 minutes.
You absolutely cannot fetch info outside your spreadsheet.
Microsoft literally warns you not to use it for legal/financial stuff because, well… AI makes mistakes.
So think of it as the smart-but-chaotic intern: good for sorting notes, not for running payroll. It’s rolling out now to Windows and Mac Beta channel users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
Bottom line:
These aren’t mind-blowing “reinvent the world” updates, but they are clever little upgrades to things you already use.
Are they perfect? Nah. Google’s locked behind paywalls, Meta only speaks two languages, and Excel’s new brain comes with a “don’t use this for anything serious” disclaimer.
Still—these drops show the playbook: apart from launching big flashy AI models, Big Tech’s real bet is that you’ll let AI quietly move in and live inside the tools you already can’t quit.
So that’s it—now go ahead and pick your cup of tea. ☕
