Google Assistant to be ‘supercharged’ with AI like ChatGPT and Bard
Google is reportedly planning to “supercharge” its virtual personal assistant software with the inclusion of new generative artificial intelligence features similar to those in chatbots like Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Work on the new version of Google Assistant has begun with the mobile version of the product, Axios first reported, citing an internal e-mail sent to employees. The tech giant is reportedly reorganising its team working on Assistant with an anticipated elimination of “a small number of roles”. However, it remains unclear how many employees in the team will likely be affected by layoffs. “We remain deeply committed to Assistant and we are optimistic about its bright future ahead,” Axios quoted Peeyush Ranjan, the vice president of Google Assistant, and Duke Dukellis, the company’s product director, as saying. Google spokesperson Jennifer Rodstrom told The Verge in a statement that the company is currently exploring ways to use large language models like ChatGPT to “supercharge Assistant and make it even better”. The move comes as Google announced a major update to its own ChatGPT rival Bard last month, which allows the AI chatbot to respond to queries by talking. Bard draws on vast quantities of training data to come up with human-like responses to a wide range of queries. Similar to ChatGPT, Bard has proven capable of producing a range of output, from summarising texts to generating computer code, for creating games or software programmes. The decision to “supercharge” Assistant also comes as the tech giant noted in a report last month that artificial intelligence marks the “most profound” technology shift in our lifetimes with the potential to “turbocharge” the UK economy. Google estimated in the report that the economic boost from AI would be equivalent to an annual growth of 2.6 per cent, creating £200bn in extra revenues for public services and “turning around the recent growth stagnation”. The tech giant’s estimation did not account for the impact of AI on some jobs, however, with many critics expressing fear of the impact that disruptive technology has. For instance, professor Geoffrey Hinton – widely regarded as the “godfather of AI” for his research contributions to the field – resigned from his job at Google, expressing fear that “bad actors” could use new AI technologies to harm others. “It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things... I console myself with the normal excuse: If I hadn’t done it, somebody else would have,” he said. Read More Tired of proving you’re not a robot? Say goodbye to Captcha boxes ChatGPT rival with ‘no ethical boundaries’ sold on dark web Google’s AI chatbot Bard can now talk Geothermal breakthrough uses oil drilling tech to tap renewable energy How to take the perfect picture of tonight's supermoon Twitter takes down giant ‘X’ sign on roof after a week following city investigation
2023-08-01 13:25
FTX Draft Bankruptcy Plan Seeks Cash Repayment, FTT Wipeout
FTX Group unveiled a draft creditor-repayment plan as part of its bankruptcy that calls for settling customer claims
2023-08-01 12:47
China’s Home Sales Drop Most in a Year as Slowdown Worsens
China’s home sales tumbled the most in a year in July, underscoring why policy makers are seeking to
2023-08-01 09:19
Japan Jobless Rate Falls in Positive Sign for Wages, BOJ Goal
Japan’s unemployment rate fell in June, feeding into optimism that upward pressure on wages may persist and help
2023-08-01 08:45
'X' removed after being installed atop company headquarters following Twitter's rebrand
Officials from the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection on Monday morning observed that the new "X" on top of the building formerly known as Twitter's headquarters was being dismantled, according to Patrick Hannan, the department's spokesman.
2023-08-01 06:47
US reviews record number of foreign investment transactions in 2022
By David Shepardson WASHINGTON A U.S. government committee on foreign investments reviewed a record number of proposed transactions
2023-08-01 06:16
Terraform Labs must face US SEC fraud allegations, judge rules
By Jody Godoy NEW YORK Terraform Labs and its founder Do Kwon must face fraud allegations brought by
2023-08-01 05:26
Crypto Exchange Curve Sees $1.5 Billion Removed After Hack
Cryptocurrency worth more than $1.5 billion has been removed — some stolen, some moved for safekeeping — from
2023-08-01 02:48
FBI Access to Spy Data Needs Limits, White House Panel Says
A panel of national security experts convened by the Biden administration recommended further restrictions on the FBI’s ability
2023-08-01 02:21
Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group Names Mark Shifke as CFO
Digital Currency Group, the battered crypto conglomerate run by Barry Silbert, named financial services veteran Mark Shifke as
2023-08-01 01:27
Juul seeks authorization on a new vape it says can verify a user's age. Here's how it works
E-cigarette company Juul Labs is seeking US authorization to sell a "next-generation" vape with age verification capabilities in the United States.
2023-08-01 01:23
Nasa Voyager 2: Space agency accidentally loses contact with pioneering space probe
Nasa has “inadvertently” lost contact with Voyager 2, its pioneering spacecraft. The space agency said that it had sent a series of planned commands to the probe on 21 July. But those moves left Voyager 2 pointing in the wrong direction: its antenna is now pointing two degrees away from Earth, and so it has lost contact with its engineers. It cannot either receive commands or send back data, Nasa said. Ordinarily, it would do so by establishing contact with the Deep Space Network, or DSN, which is a set of ground-based antennas that allow for communications with distant spacecraft. But the data being sent by Voyager 2 is not reaching that network. Voyager 2 is now floating on its own, almost 20 billion kilometres from Earth. Nasa still hopes to be able to re-establish contact with the probe, however. It is programmed to automatically reset its orientation a number of times each year, to push its antenna back to Earth. The next reset is expected to happen on 15 October, Nasa said. Until then, the space agency expects the probe to “remain on its planned trajectory during the quiet period”, it said. As its name suggests, Voyager 2 was part of a pair, both of which were launched in 1977. Voyager 1 is floating even further from Earth – at 24 billion kilometres – and Nasa says it is continuing to operate as normal. The Voyager programme brought with it a host of records: Voyager 2 is the only spacecraft to have visited Uranus and Neptune, and together they are the only spacecraft made by humans to ever have entered interstellar space. Even almost 50 years since they were launched, the pair of Voyager spacecraft have continued to send back useful and important information to Nasa for examination by scientists on Earth. They have contributed to a host of new findings about the very distant edges of our solar system. Read More How to take the perfect picture of tonight's supermoon Elon Musk installs huge, glowing letter on top of his office A game where you go to sleep in real life is one of the most popular in the world
2023-08-01 01:18