Google Chrome Introduces Skills: A New AI Feature for Seamless Web Browsing
Google has announced the addition of new AI capabilities to its Chrome web browser. The new feature, called Skills, allows users to save and reuse their favorite AI prompts across different webpages without the need to retype them. This feature is part of Google's integration of its Gemini AI into Chrome, which competes with other browser AI offerings from companies like OpenAI, Perplexity, and The Browser Company.
Gemini enables users to ask questions, summarize information, and perform various tasks on webpages. With Skills, users can create AI prompts that can be easily accessed with a click. For example, users can save prompts like asking for vegan substitutions on recipe websites for future use.
To use Skills, users can save AI prompts as Skills directly from chat history and access them in Gemini by typing a forward slash or clicking a plus sign. These Skills can be edited and customized to suit individual needs. Google found that early adopters used Skills for tasks related to health, wellness, shopping, and document summarization.
To assist users in getting started with Skills, Google is launching a Skills library with common tasks in areas like productivity, shopping, recipes, and budgeting. Users can add pre-programmed Skills to their saved list and customize them as needed. Skills in Chrome will prompt users for confirmation before executing certain actions, such as sending an email or adding an event to the calendar.
Skills will be available to Chrome desktop users who are signed into their Google account, starting today. Initially, the feature will only work for users with their Chrome browser language set to English (US).