The Unwanted AI Assistance
Google Docs recently introduced an AI-powered feature in Google Workspace that attempts to automatically read your entire document and generate a brief, automated “Summary” of the contents, which it then displays in the outline panel on the left side of the screen.
While this might be helpful for quickly skimming a massive corporate report, it is highly problematic for writers drafting creative fiction, legal professionals working with sensitive case files, or students who need to write their own executive summaries. The AI often misinterprets the nuance of the text, generating a summary that is inaccurate or simply distracting. If you prefer to write your own summaries or don’t want Google’s AI aggressively scanning your text to generate unsolicited content, you can disable this feature.
How to Disable AI Summary Auto-Generation
You can turn off the automated summary suggestions in the Google Docs Tools menu.
- Open your web browser and navigate to any open document in Google Docs.
- At the top of the screen, click on the Tools menu.
- Click on Preferences at the bottom of the dropdown list.
- A popup window will appear. Make sure you are on the General tab.
- Look down the list of checkboxes for the option labelled “Show suggested summaries”.
- Uncheck this box.
- Click the blue OK button to save your changes.
Google Docs will immediately stop using its AI engine to automatically generate text for the summary panel. If you still want a summary, you can click on the Summary section in the left-hand outline and manually type your own, but the system will no longer attempt to write it for you.