Every year, Google takes to Google I/O to announce its plans for the coming year. While the event itself will run for several days, the opening keynote presentation covers all the major announcements, from the newest version of Android, to the latest versions of the Pixel smartphones.
Looking for all of the biggest news from Google I/O 2023? Here’s a roundup of what we’ve seen so far!
AI features in Gmail, Maps, and Photos
AI is Google’s big theme at this I/O, and it makes sense that Google is adding some useful new AI-powered features to its apps.
Gmail has always been on the cutting edge of AI and machine learning, with suggestions and Smart Replies leading the way. Soon, Gmail will be able to create entire replies for you using Help Me Write. In the example we saw, Help Me Write created a reply to a customer service email, adding important context, including order information from previous emails. You can set the reply to be as elaborate or simple as you like, and you can always check it before it’s sent.
Google Maps is also getting extra AI smarts through Immersive View for routes. Later this year, users in a number of cities will be able to use Immersive View to zoom along a 3D generated simulation of their route, allowing them to see landmarks along the way from a birds eye view. Maps will even generate traffic amounts depending on how busy it expects the route to be at that time, and even inserts the correct weather. Immersive View for routes is coming later this year to 15 cities, including New York, San Francisco, London, and Tokyo.
Finally, Google Photos is getting an AI-powered Photoshop expert in the guise of Magic Editor. Essentially a supercharged version of the Magic Eraser, Magic Editor looks set to be an enormous leap. We saw Magic Editor used to remove clouds and reposition people within the photo frame, with machine learning filling in the background as it went. The most impressive example showed Magic Editor recreate elements that had been cropped out of the original photo.
Google Bard will soon be available for everyone
It wouldn’t be an AI-focused Google I/O without Bard, Google’s own version of ChatGPT. As you might expect, Google had some big news for us about Bard, and the biggest is probably that the waitlist is going away. Yes, Bard will soon no longer have gated access, and you’ll be able to chat to Google’s own AI soon. Google Bard will also be available in Japanese and Korean from today, with 40 other languages also coming soon.
You’ll want to as well, as Bard is getting some useful new features too. Soon you’ll be able to ask Bard to generate a spreadsheet based on specific criteria, and then export that spreadsheet directly into Google Sheets for your own needs. Bard will also soon be able to create images, through collaboration with Adobe Firefly.
Developing …
Editors’ Recommendations
