Let’s lead with the slew of announcements from Google yesterday – they’re feeling the pressure to in AI.
The headline – Google is putting AI in search. Not quite full on yet, but in the new Search Labs, called Search Generative Experience. Available in Chrome Desktop and the Google App in the US, it’s being termed an “experiment.” This adds generative AI to search results, including citations. Bard, though, is now available to everyone without a waitlist and includes more languages and a promise of third-party integrations.
Google’s Sidekick is a new tool to help provide better prompts, and keeping with the theme, the company rebranded their tools for Docs and Gmail as Duet AI. In this context, “Sidekick” can also read, summarize, and answer questions on documents across different Google apps. The new features across Workspace will be rolling out to their Workspace Labs over the next month or… few. Many features are thematically the same as Microsoft CoPilot demos, including generating tables in Sheets or helping with writing in Gmail and Docs.
The company also announced the PaLM 2 language model, which is positioned as a competitor to GPT-4. It’s already being used across 25 Google services, including Workspace and Bard. It comes in four sizes, including Gecko, small enough to run on mobile phones. It’s extendable to domains, and Google themselves have a health data version and a cybersecurity one.
And so I didn’t miss it; while it isn’t AI-related, Google announced a new security feature that helps inform if a Google address is on the Dark Web. It’s not new, just previously for Google One subscribers, and they’re looking to expand it.
Also not AI related – the ability to filter on “perspectives,” which helps filter on places like Reddit, YouTube, or TikTok, without adding the platform to the query.
Announced before the event but discussed during, Wendy’s will roll out a Google-powered natural language chatbot next month in the drive-through of a corporate-owned store. It’s trained on specific customized language terms, such as “JBC” for junior bacon cheeseburger or “biggie bags” for various combinations of burgers, chicken nuggets, and soft drinks.
This is without looking at the hardware announcements. So Google is moving to catch up with AI, considering they are a leader in the research side and were pushed to release the product.
The most significant announcement when considering this audience of IT services-focused companies is the language model itself – it’s extendable. That’s the most significant opportunity for both those making and selecting products. The ability to make a model industry-specific and relevant to a particular customer is a massive potential because the example of Wendy’s is the kind of thinking providers want to embrace.
Note the branding, too, similar to Microsoft’s – Duet. Sidekick. Like CoPilot. All additive, not replacement.