(source: io.google)
This year’s mega tech event – Google I/O 2024, started off with a keynote focused on advancements in search with artificial intelligence. The Californian tech giant has set the stage with the big theme – Gemini AI and some advanced tools followed the further announcements.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai described its vision towards Google’s AI era, unveiling the company’s progress towards a game-changing initiative called “Project Astra”.
We’ve listed down all the crucial highlights of two-hour Google I/O 2024 tech event, with all important updates and announcements. Surely, you will see a majority of AI upgrades and their establishment in the coming years.
1. Android-Gemini Fusion
Google has all eyes on transforming Android with Gemini AI for enhanced user experience. The core function of this integration will be viewing, reading, and understanding what’s on user’s mobile screen.
This combo will offer customized features like describing the app you’re using, summarizing a PDF you opened, or giving you a short brief about the video you’re watching.
This integration is named as ‘Gemini Nano with Multimodality’, which will be released on Pixel smartphones nearly at the end of this year.
2. Android 15 Second Beta
Google announce a new version of Android 15 beta during Google I/O keynote. Several features were there to come in Android smartphones, such as Private Space, Theft Detection Lock, Google Wallet additions, and AR integration in Google Maps.
3. Google Veo, Alternative to OpenAI’s Sora
Open AI and Google has been competing for so long, and during Google I/O conference the revelation of generative video tool “Veo” will join the party. This tool is capable of creating high-quality (1080p) videos in a single prompt.
Whether you need a cinematic clip or a time-lapse video shot, Google Veo can do it all. The tool will be available in coming weeks, while a limited number of creators can access it through VideoFX.
4. NotebookLM – A Gift to Kids & Parents
Google announced an upgrade to NotebookLM with Gemini 1.5 Pro. This advancement will help parents to teach their children easily, as seen in demo given by Josh Woodward (Google Lab’s Senior Director).
The product analyzes the notebook having important notes about a particular topic, and this feature converts the information into detailed guide, quizzes and audio discussions.
The upgrade is still in prototype, but surely it will have a major impact on children education in the coming years, as per Alphabet.
5. Project Astra – Competitor to GPT-4o
Google revealed a new AI agent – “Project Astra”, which brings a tough competition to Open AI’s GPT-4o. This assistant has several amazing features, (as showcased in a video by Google) – recognizing objects around you, naming your pet, identifying our location, explaining a code sample, and much more.
Project Astra can be a game-changer in the world of AI tools and assistants. At Google I/O 2024, the company completely shown its ambition to enhance their vision towards future of AI assistants.
6. Introduced “Smart” Google Workspace
Gemini integrations with Google Workspace apps is a smart initiative from Google. Google Meet and Mail will help you make important pointers of all the conversation with your colleagues. Google Sheets get enhancement feature to pull out a specific data for any function (sum or data set).
The ”AI Teammate” announced at Google I/O 2024 is your new assistant at the office, doing all the complex tasks in just a side panel. This integration is implemented in Gmail, Docs, Drive, Slides and Sheets. Users can start leveraging it immediately, as it is available now on Google Workspaces.
7. ‘Ask Photos’ for Deeper Search
Another announcement of AI-enabled feature in Google Photos is ‘Ask Photos’. It will help you search photos when you have bulk data, and wanted to find a particular picture. For instance, you can just tell Ask Photos type of dress you wore in the picture and it will find all the pictures with that particular attire.
However, one of Google Photos developers mentioned that it won’t collect any information from your photos to maintain privacy and security of your data. This update will be rolling out in a few months as announced in Google I/O 2024.
Key Takeaways
One of the most awaiting tech events – Google I/O 2024 was all about cherishing AI and new tools throughout the conference. From modernizing the virtual work spaces to Gemini AI upgrades, tech enthusiasts seen Google’s plan to expand AI infrastructure throughout its products and upcoming projects. Let’s see what Alphabet has more to roll out in coming years!
