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Shine
Google calls the four-pointed stars “glows”. Form is used for many AI features:
- Bard uses a large sparkler with a smaller one in the lower right corner.
- Magic Compose in Google Messages and “Help me write” in Gmail and Docs use a glowing pencil icon in the upper left.
- Cinematic Wallpapers on Android/Pixel use big sparkles with small ones on the right.
- The glow in Duet AI (more on that below) is white and placed in a circle with a blue gradient.
- The Search Generative Experiment (SGE) has the most perfect sheen with four semicircles making up the outer shape.
Duet AI for Workspace
I think Google’s clearest vision for implementing AI is Workspace. The company wants you to “collaborate with AI in real time.” It’s easy to see how Help Me Write can help you in Gmail and Docs, while the uses for image creation in Slides and Meet (for custom backgrounds) are also obvious.
“AI can act as a coach, a thought partner, a source of inspiration, as well as a productivity booster in all of Workspace’s applications.”
Meanwhile, spreadsheets are intimidating to most people, and having an assistant to help you create them can really expand usability. This constant assistance makes “Duet” a fitting name.
In the short term, Google tells us that generative AI in Sheets and Slides, as well as “six more generative AI features in the workspace,” will be coming to the Trusted Tester program “starting next month.” It comes as “Help me write” in Gmail, and Docs sees wider Labs availability on the web.
“And later this year, all of this will be generally available to business and consumer Workspace users through a new service called Duet AI for Workspace.”
The duo motif will become more apparent when we add Sidekick to Google Workspace apps. It’s launched by tapping a new icon purposefully placed to the left of your profile avatar (on the web). Activating this sidebar triggers Sidekick to “immediately read and process the document” or send an email to provide a summary of what’s being worked on, offer suggested tips, and open an “Ask anything…” field.
Generative AI in Google Search
The generative artificial intelligence in Google’s most important product is called Search Generative Experience (SGE). The section below the search bar is called AI-powered snapshot. We see a flashing icon followed by a rejection:
- Generative Al is experimental
- Generative Al may be inaccurate or offensive
SGE results are displayed against variable backgrounds that attempt to match the displayed images. (Dynamic color based on content in Material 3/You.) Google says that color “plays a big role in making it clear to people that SGE is a new way to interact with search.”
“For example, the AI-powered snapshot’s color container will change dynamically, and this color usage will evolve over the next few months to better reflect specific travel types and the survey itself.”
This color background extends to the expanded snapshot view, where you “see how data is validated” and the conversational experience.
9 to 5 Google
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The Google Home for Wear OS web app adds a light color picker as it gains Talk and Listen functionality
Here are the official Pixel 7a ‘Feathers’ wallpapers [Download]
Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 phones drain battery and overheat with latest updates
Google Material You envisions a personal future for tablet apps [Gallery]
Chrome prototype Android 14 Predictive Back support to display the last page
Pixel phones to get a new ringtone inspired by Kenny G
Google will delete accounts that haven’t been logged in for 2 years, including Gmail and Photos
Gboard split keyboard is rolling out on Android tablets
Google Contacts for Android rolls out birthday notifications
Google is rolling out a server-side update to fix Pixel battery drain
TCL’s 2023 Google TV line starts at $199 today
‘Telly’ is an ad-supported free dual-screen TV that includes a free Android TV dongle
Google’s Pixel 7 and 7 Pro get gorgeous live-edge wood cases from Carved
The latest Google Bard update improves summaries and source
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