Google spent a lot of time this morning at its I/O developer event talking about artificial intelligence.
Google announced its ChatGPT AI competitor Bard earlier this year, but it hasn’t been celebrated heavily since the initial blog post. So, it makes sense that Google would use I/O 2023 to talk about its AI technology a bit. By a bit we mean way more than a bit – over an hour, actually.
CEO Sundar Pichai started the keynote by saying, “AI is having a very busy year,” and that “seven years into our journey as an AI company … we have an opportunity to make AI even more helpful”. With that, let’s get stuck into everything Google announced at its I/O developer event.
What Google announced at its I/O event
Artificial intelligence
Pichai said everything is being reimagined with AI, including Search. But notably, Google has opened Bard AI up to everyone. Google unveiled its latest large language model that’s supposed to kick its AI chatbots and other text-based services into high gear. The company said this new LLM, PaLM 2, is trained on more than 100 languages and has strong coding, mathematics, and creative writing capabilities.
With this, Google has added more features to Bard. Bard can also integrate directly into Gmail, Sheets, and Docs, able to export text directly to those programs. Bard also uses Google Search to give images and descriptions in its responses.
But wait, there’s more AI
Maps is getting a new immersive view. Immersive View for Routes relies on the billions of images that have been captured for Street View, as well as satellite imagery, to let users further explore a suggested route. It’s cool, but not coming to Australia yet. Magic Editor builds on the company’s Magic Eraser, which lets you be your own Photoshop queen. With Magic Eraser you can delete elements in photos, but Magic Editor takes that one step further by allowing you to move things. It’s coming to Google Photos later this year.
A focus on safety
Although it’s probably not going to change the mind of that one uncle who’s convinced the moon landing was faked, Google announced a new tool that can provide more information about an image’s provenance, including when it first showed up in Google Search and where it’s been published or referenced. The idea is to provide additional context that can help users determine if an image is genuine, if it’s been digitally manipulated or AI-generated, or if it’s a complete fake.
Pixel 7a
We knew the Pixel 7a was coming, but Google’s event finally put us out of our misery, with the company announcing the new ‘budget’ device. Although an upgrade from its predecessor is nearly every way, the Pixel 7a is still very Google – it looks super similar to the 6a but it boasts the same aesthetic as the 7 and 7 Pro. It has a 6.1-inch FHD+ OLED screen with 90Hz refresh rate; Google Tensor G2 (same brains as the Pixel 7 Pro); and a ridiculous camera system: 64MP (wide), 13MP (ultrawide), 8MP (selfie).
The Pixel Tablet
The Google Pixel Tablet will set you back $899, which includes a dock that charges the tablet and doubles as a speaker. It looks so much like the Google Nest Hub, but the company assures us it is much, much more, allowing you to of course use it as a tablet which has 50 of its phone apps optimised.
The Google Pixel Fold
After months (years, really) of speculation, rumours, and confirmation in the form of a tweet, the Google Pixel Fold is finally here. It looks fabulous and seems to tick the boxes in every way. Almost every way. The bloody thing isn’t coming to Australia.
Updates to Android
A Google event wouldn’t be complete without some Android feature drops. While a bit light, the announcements include 50 apps optimised for the Tablet and Pixel Fold, and the addition of WhatsApp to WearOS (watch) with “Gmail, Calendar and more” coming soon (the battery in the Pixel Watch should also improve). Find My Device is getting an upgrade later this year, and Magic Compose, Cinematic Wallpaper and Generative AI Wallpaper were all added to Android. While super tight-lipped on the detail, Google said during its event it was also building a new immersive XR platform, alongside Samsung, that is powered by Android.
A revamped Home app
Google also used its I/O event to announce that the official Google Home app revamp was going live. The redesigned Home app uses a five-tab layout that’s much easier to navigate than the last generation UI. Its primary objective is to put your smart home favourites front and centre, so you’re not digging into the Home app looking for a specific camera feed or lightbulb.
This article has been updated since it was first published.