From Gizmodo:
Google announced it’s finally unleashing its generative AI tools Tuesday, bringing a set of features to Gmail and Google Docs that will automatically create drafts based on simple prompts. Google will also add new AI capabilities to its business products, including Google Cloud and a new API for developers
Google says it’s rolling out a test of these features to a “limited set of trusted testers” in the coming weeks. When they’re released to the more than 3 billion users of Gmail and Google Docs, more people will be exposed to the latest generation of artificial intelligence technology than ever before.
In Gmail and Google Docs, you’ll be able to type in a few words about a topic, and the apps will automatically spit out a draft. The company posted a GIF using a job posting as an example. The user types “job post for a regional sales rep,” and in a second, Docs spits out a formatted page of text with filled out sections for a job description, responsibilities, and qualifications.
“We’re now at a pivotal moment in our AI journey,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, in a blog post. “Breakthroughs in generative AI are fundamentally changing how people interact with technology — and at Google, we’ve been responsibly developing large language models so we can safely bring them to our products. Today, we’re excited to share our early progress”
With Google’s upcoming business tools, companies are sure to create a flood of AI apps.
Link to the rest at Gizmodo
All I want – and can’t seem to get – is an email system from GMAIL which allows ME to decide what to keep and where to store it, and treats my DELETE as a command from on high.
So far it insists on archiving billions of things I already knew I would never need again. On MY computer. If that were the default option BUT I could opt out, I would be a happy creature.
You’re not going to get it from gmail.
I use a paid system for that reason.
“If you’re not the paying customer you’re the product.”
BTW, Google is letting some users test their chatbot, Bard.
It is proving to be both candid and prescient: 😀
Twitter user and UX writer Juan Buis asked Bard “how long will it take before google bard will be shut down?” The chatbot responded, saying:
“Google Bard is already shut down. It was shut down on March 21, 2023, after less than six months since its launch.
Google cited the lack of adoption as the reason for the shutdown and expressed their commitment to continuing to explore ways to use AI to enhance creative expression.”
The source of the information was a comment made in jest in the comment section of Hacker News. That post joked that Google would shut down Bard in one year, likely referring to the tech giant having a reputation for closing down its services. Bard missed the context and the comedic nature of the post and shared it as fact.”
https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/google-bard-says-its-already-been-shut-down-in-obvious-mistake
At least it was current: the source of it own obit was only six hours old.
This is bound to reassure Google stockholders, right?
This opens a door that can be great fun. Simply place various nonsense posts for the AI to pick up and include in its responses.
Ah, that happy day when your computer emails my computer, which replies to your computer, neither you nor I ever having to read the damn things.
I also look forward to the day when some company lets an AI produce legally binding documents. I am already stocking up on popcorn.
Mostly, and most seriously, I am struck by how banal this all is. If “a few words” is all the AI needs to produce a draft, there clearly isn’t much substance to the result. This is probably the most realistic part here, many human-produced documents being similarly empty.
Banal uses is all they can address.
Google is an advertising company playing at tech which is why so many of their inhouse projects fail.
Right now they are rushing out their half-baked Large Language Model app to “reassure” their stockholders the billions spent on “AI” weren’t wasted and if they aren’t leaders in tech they can at least be close followers. Right.
There are valid ($$$) uses for LLM apps but delivering online ads isn’t one.
We’re in an “AI” gold rush phase: everybody is showing their stuff from Adobe in PHOTO SHOP to GRAMMARLY to minor browsers to Chatbots galore. Everybody is throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks.