Google’s AI priorities lie beyond creating a phone assistant, shifting focus towards real-world applications

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The most popular phone assistants allow users to interact with their devices hands-free. Google Assistant, introduced in 2019, aimed to enable users to operate their phones with voice commands. However, this feature was limited and required specific phrases to function.

Competitors like Siri with Large Language Models (LLM) are striving to create voice assistants that can work with any app on a phone. Google is also exploring this, but their recent focus seems to be on creating an AI assistant that assists in real-world situations. Project Astra, set to launch in the Gemini Live interactive experience, allows users to have natural conversations and interact with the physical world.

By pointing their phones or future smart glasses at objects, users can ask for information or help. Gemini Ask for photos feature turns users’ images and videos into a database of real-world knowledge that Google can utilize. This feature includes practical applications like creating calendar entries from photos of school syllabi or adding recipes to a shopping list.

Gemini Advanced includes immersive trip planning and assistance with tasks like moving to a new city. Project Astra aims to build a universal AI agent that is useful in everyday life by providing live camera views of the world to address real-world questions that are challenging to express in text.

While some users may prefer a revamped phone assistant, Google’s ambitious goal with Project Astra demonstrates their dedication to developing cutting-edge technology. The ability to navigate the physical world offers a unique and potentially more impactful use case compared to standard phone assistants.

Google’s vision for Project Astra reflects a desire to create an AI agent that can offer practical assistance in various real-world scenarios. The technology’s live camera input provides a solution to the challenge of expressing real-world contexts that are difficult to articulate through text queries.

Overall, Google’s focus on developing an AI assistant that can enhance real-world interactions showcases a shift towards more practical and immersive technology solutions. As technology continues to evolve, Google’s innovative efforts with Project Astra could revolutionize the way we interact with AI assistants in our daily lives.

Article Source
https://9to5google.com/2024/06/21/googles-ai-assistant-focus/