New Chromebook coming with an AI button

Google and Samsung are releasing some new Chromebooks with a dedicated AI key on the keyboard called the ‘Quick Insert button.’

Now you might be saying, “Really Google, another random button?” and if you are, you’ll be happy to know that the Quick Insert button is replacing the dedicated Search button which itself replaced Caps Lock many years ago. My eyes are not rolling as I write this…

It’s worth noting that Chromebooks aren’t the first to add a dedicated AI key. Microsoft made a big deal about shipping laptops with Copilot keys earlier this year.

That said, this button won’t be on all Chromebooks going forward, so some will still have the Search key. Google says pressing the button will pop up a menu to give you instant help when you need it. When you press it, the AI writing features menu pops up, along with a text field you can use to search for things, some emoji options, access to your browsing history, or Google Drive and the date for some reason, even though that’s clearly visible in the bottom right corner of the screen anyways. Oh, and there’s also the option to toggle caps lock. Eyes still not rolling…

Don’t worry AI fans, Google’s AI image generation will be in this menu some day too, but not at launch for some reason, even though the feature is out in the wild already. STILL NOT ROLLING THEM.

Okay, I was poking a little bit of fun at this AI button, but in all seriousness, I think this is a smart move from Google since actually using all of its AI has a pretty steep learning curve right now. Having a bunch of stuff under one clearly labelled menu should help with usability.

There is one cool feature that’s coming to all Chromebooks in a recent update too. It’s called ‘Welcome Recap’ and when you power your Chromebook on, it will ask you if you want to keep using the same files you had open before or pick up reading something you might have been browsing in Chrome on another device.

Beyond that, the Pixel recorder app with AI-powered transcriptions is coming to ChromeOS, but I do worry that the low cost of most Chromebooks might mean that the microphones aren’t super great for picking up voices in large rooms. Still, if it does work as advertised, it will be really handy to record notes without having to pull your phone out of your pocket.

All of these features, including the ones hidden in the Quick Insert button’s menu, will be available on all Chromebooks, but some will need Google’s Gemini Advanced subscription, which costs $27 per month in Canada or $324 per year. Chromebook Plus models comes with a year of the service for free as well.

Source: Google