# Google Docs: the Gemini assistant is finally not entirely useless

Published: 2025-12-03T00:00:00.000Z
Canonical: https://wow.pjh.is/journal/gemini-in-google-docs

In late-November, the Gemini sidebar assistant got a [major update](https://workspaceupdates.googleblog.com/2025/11/introducing-gemini-3-pro-for-gemini-app.html).

It now uses Gemini 3 Pro, and it's good!

Some early observations...

First: document summaries are now solid.

Second: it's great to have top-tier Gemini intelligence right next to my document. For example, here it gave me several usable examples, written in almost exactly the style I wanted:

![Gemini describes what it can do in Google Docs](https://wow.pjh.is/static/images/blog/google-docs-gemini-zapier-best-practice.jpeg)

Third: the inline editor is now fast and reliable for basic text manipulation: [^1]

[^1]: But why, *why*, is the "replace" button two clicks away? 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[Loom video](https://www.loom.com/share/9739d686e617467d80fcfda4d7eb27d6)

There are still major limitations [^2], UI design problems, and much else to complain about.

[^2]: E.g. it can do bold and italics, but it can't apply heading styles! 😭😭😭

But: it's finally above the bar to use.

You'll need a Google Workspace plan, or an individual [Google AI Pro subscription](https://one.google.com/about/plans?g1_landing_page=0).