This week, at its annual I/O developer conference in Mountain View, Google showcased a head-spinning number of projects and products powered by or enhanced by AI. They included a new-and-improved version of its chatbot Bard, tools to help you write emails and documents or manipulate images, devices with AI baked in, and a chatbot-like experimental version of Google search. Google's big pivot is, of course, largely fueled not by algorithms but by generative AI FOMO. The appearance last November of ChatGPT--the remarkably clever but still rather flawed chatbot from OpenAI--combined with Microsoft adding the technology to its search engine Bing a few months later, triggered something of a panic at Google. ChatGPT proved wildly popular with users, demonstrating new ways to serve up information that threatened Google's vice grip on the search business and its reputation as the leader in AI.

What use could healthcare have for someone who makes things up, can't keep a secret, doesn't really know anything, and, when speaking, simply fills in the next word based on what's come before? Lots, if that individual is the newest form of artificial intelligence, according to some of the biggest companies out there. Companies pushing the latest AI technology -- known as "generative AI" -- are piling on: Google and Microsoft want to bring types of so-called large language models to healthcare. Big firms that are familiar to folks in white coats -- but maybe less so to your average Joe and Jane -- are equally enthusiastic: Electronic medical records giants Epic and Oracle Cerner aren't far behind. The space is crowded with startups, too.

Google has unveiled plans to infuse its dominant search engine with more advanced artificial intelligence technology. The move comes three months after Microsoft's Bing search engine started to tap into tech similar to that which powers the artificially intelligent chatbot ChatGPT. With our new generative AI experience in Search, you'll get even more from a single search. You'll be able to quickly make sense of information with an AI-powered snapshot, pointers to explore more and natural ways to ask. Starting at $1799, this ultra-premium device combines personal AI, #GoogleTensor G2, and @Android innovation for a #Pixel smartphone that unfolds into an incredible compact tablet.#GoogleIO

Meta is not pivoting away from its signature product, the metaverse. Or at least that's what the Meta chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, is arguing. Despite reports that sales teams at Meta have spent less time pitching the metaverse to advertisers, Zuckerberg claimed on the tech firm's latest quarterly earnings call that it's business as usual over at the company formerly known as Facebook. "A narrative has developed that we're somehow moving away from focusing on the metaverse vision, so I just want to say upfront that that's not accurate," the CEO said. But neither is the virtual reality world the only product Meta has bet its future on, Zuckerberg argued: "We've been focusing on both AI and the metaverse for years now, and we will continue to focus on both."

Google on Wednesday said it is opening Bard, a rival to Microsoft-backed ChatGPT, to 180 countries as it expands use of artificial intelligence across its platform. Executives at an annual Google developers conference in Silicon Valley said that generative AI will also be used to supercharge the tech giant's leading search engine. "We have been applying AI for a while, with generative AI we are taking the next step," Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told thousands of developers gathered for the event. This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software. Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.

In the days leading up to its annual software conference, Google executives were unusually excited about … wallpaper. Wallpaper that's generated by artificial intelligence after tapping a few prompts on your phone screen. "Generative AI" is the key phrase here. It's the category of artificial intelligence that tech companies both big and small are hanging their futures on right now. Alphabet-owned Google is one of the pioneers in this space; as Google executives like to remind people, the "T" in OpenAI's ChatGPT actually refers to transformer technology that Google introduced back in 2017. And Google has been working on human-like chatbot technology for years.

To say the Google I/O 2023 keynote was packed would be an understatement. Google unveiled a flurry of new Pixel devices as well as the latest versions of Android and other platforms. It also won't surprise you to hear that AI was everywhere -- this was Google's big chance to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. Don't worry if you missed something during the event, though, as we've got all the biggest announcements from the event. There's no doubt that the (previously confirmed) Pixel Fold was the star of the show.

Generative AI really is everywhere. It's used to make social media avatars. It can help debug code. It can even ask nosey neighbors to be a little more polite to each other. Now, Google is hoping to use it to encourage app developers to expand their use of custom store listings on the Google Play store.

Because of safety and reputational risks, Google has been slower than competitors to launch AI-powered products. But fierce competition from competitors Microsoft, OpenAI, and others has left it no choice but to start, says Chirag Shah, a computer science professor at the University of Washington. It's a high-risk strategy, given that AI language models have numerous flaws with no known fixes. Embedding them into its products could backfire and run afoul of increasingly hawkish regulators, experts warn. Google is also opening up access to its ChatGPT competitor, Bard, from a select group in the US and the UK to the general public in over 180 countries.

Google unveiled fundamental new improvements to its AI chatbot during the company's I/O 2023 keynote on Wednesday, with new Duet AI powers fundamentally improving its Workspace productivity apps as well. AI has been one of the unexpected breakthroughs of the past year, with nearly daily updates from tech giants big and small implementing AI. Even the U.S. government wants to use AI. Google, long the dominant player in search, has had its reputation undermined by AI models like ChatGPT and even generative AI art from Midjourney. Google has lagged behind OpenAI's ChatGPT and Microsoft's Bing in terms of AI, launching its own Bard chatbot in February, a day before Microsoft had publicly launched Bing's AI chatbot.