News
Google I/O Highlights: AI Agents, Ask Photos, AI Teammate, & More
The event was full of news and announcements, but most centered on Gemini and its expanding capabilities.
Google held its I/O event aimed at developers yesterday. Plenty of news and product announcements were expected at the showcase, and we weren’t disappointed.
AI Search Overview
The first major reveal was that Google would add AI overviews to search results. The company hopes that AI will be able to take numerous sources of information and make a small, digestible overview for users.
Ask Photos
Next up was news on Google Photos, which is getting a powerful new AI tool called Ask Photos. Google said the feature can effectively search through images and answer questions such as: “What is my car’s license plate number?” or “What date did my child learn to swim?”.
AI Agents
A new tool called AI agents (AI personal assistants) was also debuted at I/O. CEO Sundar Pichai said AI Agents is in its early days, but in the future, it will be able to undertake complex tasks, including scanning through emails, filling out forms, and setting up appointments.
Gemini 1.5 Pro
Google announced new versions of its AI model at the I/O event, known as Gemini 1.5 Pro and Flash. According to the CEO of Google DeepMind, Demis Hassabis, “Flash is a lighter-weight model compared to Pro, and is designed to be fast and cost-efficient to serve at scale while still featuring multi-model reasoning capabilities and breakthrough long context”.
Google added that the technology would soon include features such as video searching, planning (such as travel itineraries), and contextual search.
AI Teammate
AI Teammate is a new AI chatbot that will function as a virtual co-worker. The tool can serve as an office hub, allowing teams to work together more effectively.
Nano
Although a minor announcement, Nano, Google’s smallest AI model, is interesting due to its ability to run entirely on mobile devices. The tool can efficiently intercept and intelligently block annoying spam calls.
Veo
Finally, Google debuted a new video generator named Veo. The product is similar to OpenAI’s Sora and can create “high-quality 1080p videos from text images and video prompts”.