Google’s iOS app will use AI to simplify jargon

Google has a new AI tool that can help iPhone users to better grasp complicated or confusing writing online. The Simplify feature, rolling out in the Google app on iOS starting today, generates a simpler, more digestible version of any highlighted text without leaving the current web page.

Simplify is built on Google’s Gemini AI model, and was developed by Google Research to make technical jargon easier for anyone to understand without losing key details. For example, Simplify can break down medical terms like “emphysema” (a condition that damages the air sacs in lungs) and “fibrosis” (dense connective tissue or scarring that develops in response to damage) in reports and journals, preventing readers from needing to reference terminology on a separate web page.

Google says that people found the simplified versions to be “significantly more helpful than the original complex text” in its testing, but acknowledged the study “has limitations” and that “ongoing vigilance” is required to monitor errors.

The feature can be found in the iOS Google app by highlighting any text on a website, and tapping the Simplify icon from the menu options that appear. When asked if Simplify will be made available for Android and desktop Chrome users, Google spokesperson Jennifer Kutz told The Verge that “we don’t have anything to announce yet, but we’re always looking to bring useful features to more of our products.”