It's all about AI this year — here's everything Google's talked about so far
Google Photos is getting a Gemini-powered upgrade
Gone are the days of endlessly searching your photo library. This summer, when Gemini comes to Her Photos, you'll be able to ask the AI assistant to find a specific image in your collection. Are you looking for your own license plate? Looking for memories from when your girlfriend's daughter swam? The twins are about to be born.
Google Gemini 1.5 Pro is available globally today
And Gemini 1.5 Flash speeds things up
The latest version of Google's LLM is now available to developers worldwide and can be accessed through Gemini Advanced. He looks pretty impressive and could even be 10 times more productive than he is. For example, an hour-long Meet call can be boiled down to a few actionable bullet points. Say goodbye to daydreaming at your next all-hands meeting. Google also demonstrated a very impressive explanation of basketball physics in NotebookLM using two easy-to-use voice assistants. Meanwhile, Gemini 1.5 Flash is all new. It's faster and more efficient than its Pro-named sibling, and it's now available in Google AI Studio and Vertex AI.
Get ready to shop with AI
Turns out our bingo predictions were right on the money. Google Shopping is getting some early AI tools that can help handle things like online returns and DoorDash.
Project Astra is the next step in Gemini
Google describes it as a "general-purpose AI agent that helps people in everyday life," but it actually looks like a working version of what Humane and Rabbit promised on dedicated hardware. It's an improved version of Gemini that runs on a variety of devices, including smart glasses, and constantly tries to help users, whether it's through brainstorming or simply locating lost items.
However, as the name suggests, this seems quite far. Google says some of the possible experiences will be available on Gemini later this year. We'll be covering Project Astra throughout the day, so stay tuned for more impressions this week.
New AI-powered creation tools are here to rival OpenAI
Google has a lot of creators talking about its latest Gemini-based toolset that lets you create everything from images to music to video. From Mark Rebillet to Donald Glover, who offered a pre-I/O set, Google wants musicians and filmmakers to use tools like his Imagen3, Music AI Sandbox, and new video his Creator Veo That's clear.
However, Google has been slow on this front, making these tools available to some developers as part of the Labs program. It remains to be seen whether all this will stand up to scrutiny and how YouTubers will react to Google tapping into their library to develop tools such as his Music AI Sandbox. not.
Google Search is all about generative AI
"Google will do the Googling for you." That's how Google opened the section on search during today's keynote, and it's not kidding. AI Overviews, which have been in beta since last year, are the default now. It's rolling out later today, and coming to one billion people by the end of the year. In my personal experience, these AI summaries continue to provide alternatingly incorrect and plagiarized answers, but I'm sure this will be fine, right? Right?
Google uses Gemini to enable multi-level thinking. Larger questions are broken down into specific pieces, so in theory you can get all the information you need about restaurant recommendations or gym memberships on one page.
There are some really nice elements here, including a meal planner that uses online recipes and prompts you to view the recipes on his actual website rather than the AI summary itself. Video searches are coming to market that allow you to ask troubleshooting questions as you leave prom. In a way, it seems like the company is doing its best to keep independent sites from dying out, hoping users will spend as much time as possible searching. Let's see how this works in practice.
Workspace is getting even more AI
As if aggregating meetings wasn't enough, Google uses Gemini to aggregate emails, both individually and in threads. But beyond that, Google has the ability to search your entire inbox for related emails. Whether you're putting together an umbrella sale or planning a trip, this could help you eliminate your dependence on Gmail's custom search filters.
Gemini also comes with apps like Tasks, Calendar, and Notes, so you can use the chatbot to ask questions, upload images, and more.
Chip is an AI-powered Clippy
Google is working on a prototype "Gemini-powered teammate" that, to my ears, sounds a lot like Microsoft's least-favorite assistant. Chip works within Workspace apps to track ongoing projects, and acts as its own individual being. This isn't a prompt box — Chip has a Google account, lives in your chats, and works to assemble outlines on your behalf.
Gemini on Android knows what you're looking at
More than an hour into the show, Google has finally announced everyone's favorite mobile operating system. Gemini for Android features a chip that powers watching YouTube videos and viewing PDFs, with improved context. While you're currently limited to just those two things, the ability to request specific sections of the 80-page pickleball rulebook sounds pretty cool. Plus, it's Android-only.
Gemini Nano will look for fraud risks
Finally, we've seen a new advancement in Google's on-device LLM. The company is working on a system that fully locally monitors calls on the device to monitor the risk of fraud. So the next time you receive a suspicious call from your bank, Google will check to see if it's genuine. If not, your phone will beep to alert you to a possible scam. It's not quite ready for primetime yet, but we'll likely hear more details later this year.
Circle to Search can do homework for you
Circle to Search is an incredibly useful tool, and the latest update now allows you to view and walk through physics problems and more. The idea is that, rather than simply giving you answers, Circle to Search can act as a tutor in your life, or even more so, for the students in your life.
Unlike many on this list, the first wave of homework-based tools is available now, with more STEM questions coming later this year. Meanwhile, Google has confirmed that Circle to Search will be available on more Android devices later this year.
Gems allow you to personalize Gemini
I think Google doesn't understand Gem branding well enough. Gems allows you to train specific chatbots to complete specific tasks or focus on aspects of daily life. Design your fitness trainer or home cook to encourage you to work out every morning or try a new recipe. It will be available to Gemini Advanced users later this year.
