Google has repeatedly emphasized that technology and now artificial intelligence is a great democratizing force and has worked to make it widely available. The company has similarly increased its presence in Africa with optimized products, grants, and by supporting developers. The two efforts are combining with the latest Google AI Center opening in Accra, Ghana.
When Google Translate began using Neural Machine Translation in late 2016, the service improved “more in a single leap” than in the last ten years combined. That technology now works completely offline in 59 languages and is rolling out this month to Android and iOS.
Following the revelation that Google was working with the US military on recognizing drone footage, the company promised that it would develop guidelines to govern AI usage. Today, Sundar Pichai announced these principles and clarified what kind of research and work the company will and won’t undertake in the future.
For the past several weeks, Google has been embroiled in a scandal over a Department of Defense contract. Today, Google Cloud head Diane Greene acquiesced to internal pressure and announced that the company will not seek another contract to analyze drone footage.
For the past several months, Google fiercely debated the military applications of artificial intelligence, with many employees opposed to their work being used in weaponry and war settings. This stance would essentially see Google forgo a huge market to Amazon and Microsoft, where employees do not have similar qualms.
A new report today provides some insight on principles that will guide future work, while several positions from within the company have also been highlighted.
To wide fanfare, Google in February published its internal Machine Learning Crash Course program originally designed as a resource for its employees to learn about AI. Learn with Google AI is now adding a new practicum focussed on image classification.
In the days since I/O 2018, critique has primarily been lobbied against Google Duplex. There are problems with the feature, but to me — at least — it’s clear that the company thought about some of the societal impacts associated with a nearly indistinguishable human voice out in the world.
However, I think another feature Google announced deserves a similar level of criticism due to its broad impact. Enter John Legend.
Since news emerged in March that Google was working with the U.S. military to use machine learning to analyze drone footage, some employees have been debating and protesting the decision. Many Googlers have expressed discontent through a petition, while others are now beginning to quit over the matter.
Last week, Google announced and began rolling out Smart Compose at I/O 2018, as well as native offline support for the new Gmail. Today, AI-powered response suggestions called “Nudges” are beginning to launch in the redesigned web client.
Unlike other Made by Google products, Google Clips did not get a presence at I/O 2018 despite it being an obvious example of AI. To make up for this, the smart camera is adding the ability recognize hugs, kisses, dance moves, and more, as well as multi-device pairing.
Alongside other machine learning products and developments at last year’s I/O, Sundar Pichai announced Google.ai to bring together the company’s artificial intelligence efforts. On the eve of 2018’s keynote, Google is launching a more encompassing company-wide initiative called “Google AI.”
Federated learning is not a new concept in the tech industry with Google exploring it for Gboard last year. However, ahead of I/O, the company has published a new video that provides a good recap of its benefits, possibly suggesting a broader push at tomorrow’s keynote.
Just last month, the Google app significantly updated its built-in podcast player with a homepage and subscriptions. An interview series this week revealed that Google has grander podcasts ambitions centered around AI and transcription, which allows for semantic analysis and mass search.
Machine learning has the potential to fuel major technological developments in countless fields, with Alphabet’s X division already investigating agriculture and food production usage. A team inside Google is now using it for cancer research and detection with a prototype microscope.
One particular advancement driven by machine learning is the ability for computers to understand natural language, with Google showcasing these improvements with Smart Reply. Its Research division has been exploring other applications and today releasing two fun and interesting demos.
According to a new report from The New York Times, Apple has hired Google’s chief of search and artificial intelligence, John Giannandrea. Tim Cook made the announcement in an email to employees, noting that Giannandrea will official be the head of “machine learning and A.I. strategy.”
Last year, Google introduced a series of mobile-first computer vision neural networks that allows for image classification and detection while remaining fast and low-power given the constraints of running on-device. The company is today making available MobileNetV2 with several performance improvements.
Two years ago, Google appointed its head of artificial intelligence to lead Search in a move that reflected the future of the company. Today, John Giannandrea is stepping down from those positions, with Google veterans Ben Gomes and Jeff Dean taking over.
Earlier this week, Google Cloud highlighted leveraging tech from DeepMind to create more natural-sounding text-to-speech. It comes as the Alphabet subsidiary is being more closely integrated into consumer products. Today, DeepMind announced that its opening an AI lab in Paris to compliment another Google research team.
As part of Google’s transition into an AI first world, the company wants to widely open up this technology. Its latest initiative involves a new website with a number of resources, as well as a previously internal online learning course.
Last year, Google announced a $1 billion initiative to teach the skills needed for new digital jobs in light of automation. Grow with Google is now expanding to France, with the company also launching a new AI research team and bigger offices.
At I/O 2017, Sundar Pichai announced a new, better way to design machine learning models that would help democratize access beyond organizations with deep benches of AI researchers and PhDs. Today, Google Cloud announced AutoML as a consumer product aimed at businesses and developers that don’t have ML expertise.
Machine learning is increasingly being leveraged in a variety of consumer products and other research. The latest use sees Google apply AI to planet hunting and in the process discovering two previously overlooked exoplanets.
Bolstering its status as an AI first company, Google has opened machine learning research labs around the world in recent years. The latest is the Google AI China Center headquartered in Beijing.
