How One Setting Changes the way Google Docs work with LLMs

A Reflection on Dr. Rolly’s Demo Slam at Future of Learning SEA 2025

If you were at the Future of Learning South East Asia (FOLSEA) 2025 conference this weekend, you already know the atmosphere was full of excitement and learning. Between the keynotes on AI ethics and the breakout sessions on teaching an learning in class, Vibe coding, KS1 classrooms, and more, my brain was already full. But then came the Demo Slams.

We all know Demo Slams are high-energy(For those unfamiliar with the format, those signed up compete and get 60 sec to show off a tools or trick on stage after which the winner of each round progresses to the next), but when Dr. Rolly took the stage, the energy in the room shifted. He didn’t show us a complex new app or a $1,000 piece of hardware, or yet another subscription. He showed us a checkbox. A single checkbox in Google Docs that solves the biggest headache many educators and creators will have faced in this new era or AI: Copy-pasting from LLMs.

When he revealed this trick, the audible gasp from the audience (followed by applause, and him winning this round!) was one of those small tips, I wanted to share and thus through writing this here, am now actively sharing! For those who missed it; or for those who were too busy cheering to take notes, here is the breakdown of Rolly’s tip.

The Problem: The “Raw Text” Nightmare

We’ve all been there. You generate a beautiful lesson plan, rubric, or email draft in ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. It looks perfect in the chat window; bold headings, organised bullet points, clean tables.

Then you hit Ctrl + V into Google Docs, and suddenly it looks like a coding project gone wrong.

The “Before” Look:

## Lesson 1: The Water Cycle

### Objectives

• Understand evaporation
• Define condensation

### Materials Needed

1. Water
2. Heat source

Why it hurts:

• The Hashes: You have to manually delete all those ## and ### symbols.
• The Stars: Bold text is surrounded by **asterisks** instead of actually being bold.
• The Time Sink: You spend 5 minutes re-formatting a document that AI took 5 seconds to write.

The Fix: Enabling Markdown in Google Docs

As Rollo explained during the slam, Google Docs has a native Markdown engine, but it is turned OFF by default. Enabling it creates a bridge between your LLM and your document.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Open any Google Doc.
2. Go to the top menu and select Tools.
3. Click on Preferences.

1. Check the box that says “Automatically detect Markdown”.
2. Click OK.

The Secret Sauce: “Paste From Markdown”

Note: Sometimes, simply enabling the setting isn’t enough if you are pasting a massive block of text. Rolly gave us this pro-tip for perfect execution every time:

• Instead of the standard paste (Ctrl + V), right-click in your doc.
• Select Paste from Markdown (if available in your context menu) OR simply paste it, and because the setting is on, Docs will often auto-convert it.
• Pro-Tip: If it doesn’t convert immediately, go to Edit > Paste from Markdown.

The Result: Seamless Integration

Once this setting is live, your workflow transforms. You copy from the LLM, you paste into Docs, and the software instantly translates the “code” into “formatting.”

Lesson 1: The Water Cycle

Objectives

• Understand evaporation
• Define condensation

Materials Needed

1. Water
2. Heat source

Why it rocks:

• Instant Headings: ## becomes “Heading 2” automatically.
• Clean Lists: No more manual bulleting.
• Zero Cleanup: You can start editing the content immediately rather than fixing the formatting.