Tag: Google AI

  • Agentic search? Google’s annual conference I/O revealed new features coming to search, and how your personal data may integrate into it

    Agentic search? Google’s annual conference I/O revealed new features coming to search, and how your personal data may integrate into it

    Google’s annual conference I/O (which stands for In/Out) for developers just ended a couple of days ago and with it came a swath of updates meant to get developers excited in the tech that the company will be bringing forth in the near future. AI of course took the main stage and was heavily featured, but the most notable items probably came from the changes to Google’s flagship product, their search engine.

    The word agentic when it comes to AI is tossed around a lot, but what do we really mean when we say agentic will be coming to Google search? Agentic means “someone or something that achieves outcomes independently” and thus far, that’s not something most AI tools are capable. Until the user is there entering a prompt the AI agent or tool is essentially dormant, waiting in limbo to be summoned for a task or query.

    Google and the other tech behemoths in the space would like to change that, instead of waiting for you to ask, Google plans to introduce the ability to have a search that’s ongoing and happening in the background. If you want to stay on top of your favorite teams stats for the season, or to get an update when stocks you have invested in have a major change, you can set up a search that will continuously run and provide updates as they become available.

    For those who like to stay up to date at every moment on their topics of interest this is an intriguing switch from the usual paradigm from “searcher” to just “scanner”, allowing you to catch up with all of your interests over your morning coffee without having to lift a finger. For others, it might be information overload.

    Google is dubbing this feature “Information Agents” and it will be available to Pro & Ultra subscribers as early as this summer. The agents will also be able to do things like scan for tickets to a concert you have been wanting to attend and purchase them automatically when they become available, it can also book services like home repair or pet care on your behalf. In a nutshell, these agents are meant to simplify your day to day and have your tech doing more while you have to engage with the minutiae of everyday life less.

    Not everyone would like to have things removed from their direct – and sole – oversight, however. As with the ChatGPT Finance announcement, some users are skeptical about allowing AI and the companies that back it such a deep and personal look into their private data. To be completely independent of the user Google has said their AI agents may review your emails, calendar events and more so it can make decisions on your behalf. The trade of convenience for privacy may be too much for some users to tolerate.

    Other announcements at I/O included was the immediate release of Gemini 3.5 which included a UI re-design and changes to the chat bot, including more voice options. Another change coming to search is also the ability to have more contextual answers, for example if you ask it about a specific Monet painting it may just show you an image of the painting rather than a text description.

    It should also be noted the news of Google’s sweeping investments in AI also came as Google quietly removed their commitments to reversing climate change, including removing the “net-zero carbon goal” from their website. As has been made abundantly clear, AI progress and climate sustainability are opposing viewpoints at the moment.

    Regardless of how you feel about AI, it is here to stay and businesses that can take advantage of emerging updates and deploy them within their business strategically will be ahead of the game. Valley Techlogic can help you with AI strategies and safe AI deployments that will set your business ahead of the competition, learn more today with a consultation.

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  • AI updates for 2024 and what they mean for you, including the addition of multimodal for Google Gemini & ChatGPT and Amazon’s new AI Alexa service

    AI updates for 2024 and what they mean for you, including the addition of multimodal for Google Gemini & ChatGPT and Amazon’s new AI Alexa service

    AI (Artificial Intelligence) continues to try and proliferate the space in which we live, from innovations aimed at simplifying our work activities and increasing productivity, to enhancements to our devices that will make using AI in our homes more accessible. It’s impossible to ignore that Google, Amazon and other major players in the tech space want to make AI part of our daily lives.

    But what does this really mean for you and are the advancements coming to AI in 2024 really going to be useful for the average person? In today’s article we’d like to look at some of the AI announcements that have made major headlines and break down what they mean for you.

    Multimodal AI: First of all, what is multimodal AI? Traditionally at the moment you input one type of content request into AI models, such as a text prompt asking for an image or written text, and it provides you with an answer based on the prompt that covers whichever content you requested (IE written OR visual).

    With multimodal AI you won’t be limited to one form of output, instead you can enter a prompt that requests a mix of medias, such as a report that includes text AND images that align with the report.

    Multimodal AI will pull from several different data inputs to give you a more complete pictures without the need to enter separate prompts for different types of media. Also, because all of this is being processed at the same time you will likely see more cohesive results. Both ChatGPT and Google Gemini have begun to offer a multimodal AI experience and we expect the technology behind this type of AI will continue to improve in the coming months.

    AI comes to Amazon’s Alexa: Amazon made the announcement that a subscription based Alexa service will be rolling out sometime this year and will provide a better user experience, with more intuitive answers to questions and a conversational approach to requests to keep up with the current trends (search queries have become more conversational overall and it’s largely attributed to AI).

    Pricing has yet to be announced but Amazon has stated it will not be included with Amazon Prime. Amazon will use it’s own large language model, Titan, to power the upgrade.

    AI for Marketing?: The Google Marketing Live 2024 event was this week and unsurprisingly AI the feature focus for the tech giant. With enhancements announced to immerse consumers in AI powered ads and an “AI readiness tool” that will be available sometime this year.

    Highlights included the ability to take a static “hero asset” and turn it into a video with a realistic 3D animated background, the ability to use AI to recreate and retool existing ad creatives, and enhancements to search that allow consumers to buy a product they find as a solution to a search query directly from the same browser window.

    Generative AI lets you continuously improve your AI experience: Finally, increased improvements to generative AI, which is AI that learns the patterns and structure of your input, will make using AI to create cohesive content for your business even easier. From allowing your employees to seek out answers to questions without an exhaustive web search to aiding in crafting articulate responses to your clients and more. With generative AI your voice is an additional component to your AI experience. Microsoft, Google, LinkedIn and ChatGPT continue to include enhancements to the generative AI experience. You can even add a background prompt to give additional context to your AI program of choice (such as information about your business or yourself) so the responses you receive are uniquely tailored to you.

    Looking to improve your business with AI strategies or take advantage of AI advancements in cyber security including enhanced monitoring, threat detection and real time solutions? Valley Techlogic remains at the fore front of new technologies, and we can assist you in navigating AI solutions for your business. Learn more today.

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    This article was powered by Valley Techlogic, leading provider of trouble free IT services for businesses in California including Merced, Fresno, Stockton & More. You can find more information at https://www.valleytechlogic.com/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/valleytechlogic/ . Follow us on Twitter at https://x.com/valleytechlogic and LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/valley-techlogic-inc/.