Notion AI can now access Slack chats and Google Drive files

Notion AI is getting several updates, including the ability to connect the AI assistant to third-party apps such as Slack and Google Drive. 

Notion was among the first productivity software vendors to add generative AI (genAI) features to its all-in-one document app, announcing a waitlist for access to Notion AI soon after OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3.5 arrived in late 2022. 

The first iteration of the AI assistant could be used to draft content inside a Notion workspace such as a blog post or meeting agenda, or, as Notion playfully suggested on its website at the time, write a poem about a burrito.  Attitudes have shifted since then, and as the early sense of wonder towards the technology has worn thin, businesses are more focused on the value of genAI investments. 

That’s the thinking with the new Notion AI, said David Tibbits, product marketing manager for Notion AI, with the AI assistant able to provide more accurate responses based on information held in third-party apps. “It’s no longer about writing a haiku about burritos,” he said. “You have all of these day-to-day workflows that you need help with, and now Notion AI is able to be a genuinely useful…tool to help you with those day-to-day tasks.”

Two Notion AI third-party app connectors are now in beta. One lets users tap into messages from selected public channels in Slack (private channels and direct messages are not currently accessible); the other accesses files held in Google Drive. (Notion plans to add integrations with Jira, GitHub and other apps soon.) 

Once Notion AI is connected to one or more third-party apps, users can select which source the AI assistant will access, with query responses generated based on this data. To help reduce hallucinations, responses will include citations for information sources. 

Access to third-party apps gives users a “complete picture” of what’s going on in projects they’re involved with, said Tibbits. For workers returning from time off, it could help them quickly catch up on what they’ve missed, he said, or quickly update a product manager on progress of projects under way. 

The app connector feature builds on last year’s launch of Notion’s Q&A chatbot tool, which lets users ask the AI assistant about information held in a Notion workspace specifically. 

Notion also announced that it will combine the Notion AI Q&A and content generation capabilities into a single revamped AI assistant interface; previously, the two functions were accessed separately within the Notion app. This means it’s possible to “not just search and find the answer, but then actually take action…and generate content based on that information that it found,” said Tibbits. 

The AI assistant is accessible via both in a Notion workspace – where a user can ask contextual questions about information in a specific document – and in a dedicated chatbot interface within the app. 

Other updates to Notion AI include the ability to analyze and summarize PDFs and image files, as well as the ability to direct the AI assistant to generate content that fits a specific style guide. 

Notion AI is priced at $8 per user each month on an annual basis.