8 Best AI Certifications & Courses You Should Do in 2023
Someone Made A DIY Version Of Google's Most Exciting AI — And You Can Use It Right Now
Now that Google Glass could be back on the menu, we're eager to see if Project Astra, Google's new supercharged computer vision AI, can finally make smart glasses work. For now, however, Google hasn't committed its prototype AI assistant to anything yet, much less a piece of hardware.
To scratch that itch in the interim, a designer created their own version that's built using Google's Gemini generative AI. Pietro Schirano, who's previously worked at Uber and Facebook, introduced his take on a Google chatbot with vision capabilities called DIY-Astra. It's not as capable as when compared to Google's own Project Astra or even OpenAI's GPT-4o demo, but it is a sneak peek into the potential of these improved AI chatbots.
Lightning Fast ResponsesSchirano explained on X that he built DIY-Astra using Gemini 1.5 Flash, Google's lightweight AI model that's meant for speed and efficiency. It's not as powerful as Google's Gemini 1.5 Pro, but it's better suited for things like chatbots and pulling data from documents.
DIY-Astra works by tapping into your live webcam feed to analyze what it's looking at with the Google AI API. Then, it can generate text responses based on whatever it's seeing, before reading its response out loud to you. From Schirano's demo, DIY-Astra can handle basic tasks like identifying what it's looking at through the camera. It can also understand a handwritten math problem, even offering the solution. That's not groundbreaking for AI, but we're impressed at how fast the DIY-Astra can understand the quickly-changing video feed and even Schirano's less-than-ideal handwriting.
Early AccessSchirano's DIY-Astra may not be as impressive as the real thing, but it is available now. The designer included all the instructions and files on a GitHub repository that's open to anyone, but you may need some coding skills to build it. In the future, Schirano said on X that he's planning to add the ability for voice commands, making it even more like Project Astra.
As for the real Project Astra, Google recently uploaded several demos showing off its prowess through a smartphone camera. There's no set date on when Google's prototype assistant will be released to the public, but the company vaguely hinted at Project Astra coming to its products later this year. Until then, at least we have DIY-Astra.
Learn Something New Every DayEx-Google Manager Compares AI Overviews To Failed Google+
A 16-year Google veteran is raising concerns about the company's current focus on AI, labeling it a "panic reaction" driven by fear of falling behind competitors.
Scott Jenson, who left Google last month, took to LinkedIn to critique the tech giant's AI projects as "poorly motivated and driven by this mindless panic that as long as it had 'AI' in it, it would be great."
Veteran's Criticism Of Google's AI FocusJenson stated that Google's vision of creating an AI assistant for its ecosystem is "pure catnip" fueled by the fear of letting someone else get there first.
He parallels the ill-fated Google+ product, which he calls a "similar hysterical reaction" to Facebook's rise.
Jenson wrote:
"This exact thing happened 13 years ago with Google+ (I was there for that fiasco as well). That was a similar hysterical reaction but to Facebook."
Lack Of User-Driven MotivationJenson argues that Google's strategy lacks motivation driven by genuine user needs, a sentiment echoed by a recent Gizmodo article that described this year's Google I/O developer conference as "the most boring ever."
The article, which Jenson linked to in his post, criticized Google for failing to clarify how Gemini's new AI technology would integrate into its existing products and enhance the user experience.
See Jenson's full post below:
Can You Turn Off Google's AI Overviews?One prime example of Google's AI overreach is the AI overviews feature, which generates summaries to directly answer search queries by ingesting information from across the web.
This controversial move has sparked legal battles, with publishers accusing Google of violating intellectual property rights and unfairly profiting from their content without permission.
Related: Google's AI Overviews Documentation: Key SEO Insights
Turning Off AI OverviewsWhile Google doesn't provide an official setting to turn off AI overviews, a viral article from Tom's Hardware suggests using browser extensions.
Alternatively, you can configure Chrome to go directly to web search results, bypassing the AI-generated overviews.
Here are the steps:
In the new entry, enter the following details:
Lastly, click the three dots next to the new "Google (Web)" entry and select "Make default."
After following these steps, Chrome will now default to showing regular web search results instead of the AI overview summaries when you perform searches from the address bar.
Tensions Over Data UsageThe controversy surrounding AI overviews creates tension between tech companies and content creators over using online data for AI training.
Publishers argue that Google's AI summaries could siphon website traffic, threatening independent creators' revenue streams, which rely on search referrals.
The debate reflects the need for updated frameworks to balance innovation and fair compensation for content creators, maintaining a sustainable open internet ecosystem.
FAQ What concerns has Scott Jenson raised about Google's AI focus?Scott Jenson, a former Google product manager, has expressed concerns that Google's current AI focus is more of a "panic reaction" to stay ahead of competitors rather than addressing user needs. He critiques Google's AI initiatives as poorly motivated and driven by a fear of letting others get ahead.
How does Scott Jenson compare Google's AI strategy to past projects?Jenson parallels Google's current AI focus and the company's response to Facebook years ago with Google+. He describes both as "hysterical reactions" driven by competition, which, in the case of Google+, resulted in a product that failed to meet its objectives.
Why are content creators concerned about Google's AI overviews?Content creators worry that Google's AI overviews, which generate summaries by ingesting web content, could reduce site traffic. They argue that this practice is unfair as it uses their content without permission and impacts their revenue streams that rely on search referrals.
How can users turn off Google's AI overviews in Chrome?Although no official setting exists to disable AI overviews, users can use a workaround by enabling a specific Chrome setting or using a browser extension.
Here are the steps:
In the new entry, enter the following details:
This will force Chrome to skip AI-generated overviews and show the classic list of web links.
Featured Image: Sira Anamwong/Shutterstock
Google Search's New AI Overviews Will Soon Have Ads
Last week Google introduced a radical shake-up of search that presents users with AI-generated answers to their queries. Now the company says it will soon start including ads inside those AI Overviews, as the automatic answers are called.
Google on Tuesday announced plans to test search and shopping ads in the AI summaries, a move that could extend its dominance in search advertising into a new era. Although Google rapidly rolled out AI Overviews to all US English users last week after announcing the feature at its I/O developer conference, it's unclear how widely or quickly ads will start appearing.
Screenshots released by Google show how a user asking how to get wrinkles out of clothes might get an AI-generated summary of tips sourced from the web, with a carousel of ads underneath for sprays that purport to help crisp up a wardrobe.
Google's AI Overviews are meant to keep users from shifting to alternatives such as ChatGPT or the startup Perplexity, which use AI-generated text to answer many questions traditionally thrown at Google. How and when Google would integrate ads into AI Overviews has been a significant question over the company's ChatGPT catch-up strategy. Search ads are the company's largest revenue generator, and even subtle changes in ad placements or design can spur big swings in Google's revenue.
Courtesy of Google
Google shared few details about its new Overview ad format in its announcement Tuesday. Ads "will have the opportunity to appear within the AI Overview in a section clearly labeled as 'sponsored' when they're relevant to both the query and the information in the AI Overview," Vidhya Srinivasan, Google's vice president and general Manager for ads, wrote in a blog post.
AI Overview will draw on ads from advertisers' existing campaigns, meaning they can neither completely opt out of the experiment nor have to adapt the settings and designs of their ads to appear in the feature. "There's no action needed from advertisers," Srinivasan wrote.
Google said last year when it started experimenting with AI-generated answers in search that ads for specific products would be integrated into the feature. In one example at the time, it showed a sponsored option at the top of an AI-generated list of kids' hiking backpacks. Google says the early testing showed that users found ads above and below AI summaries helpful. Google's much smaller rival Bing shows product ads in its Bing Copilot search chatbot, but in tests on Monday, WIRED didn't trigger any ads in Bing's competitor to AI Overview.
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