There was one dominant theme in the announcements made at Google I/O 2023 - the power of Generative Artificial Intelligence to make our lives better. Underpinning all of the advances is PaLM 2, the latest generation of Google's large language model.

PaLM 2, or Pathways Language Model 2, is a 540-billion parameter LLM trained on a massive dataset of code and multilingual text spanning more than 100 languages.

Bard, Google's conversational AI. is now powered by PaLM 2 extending its abilities. Ahead of Google I/O Bard was opened up to users in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and at the event it was announced that this would be extended to 180 countries and territories. Disappointingly Google has no plans to make Bard available in Canada and any country of the European Union due to the possibility of "regulatory challenges", referring to legislation restricting the use of AI in these countries.

Bard's existing capabilities were to answer questions and to generate text including summaries of factual information and creative content such as poems, stories and scripts. Bard's additional capabilities thanks to PaLM 2 that were announced at I/O 2023 include:

• Translating languages: Bard can translate text from one language to another and provide summaries of text in multiple languages.
• Generating/optimizing code: Bard can help to generate code for several languages including C++, Go, Java, JavaScript, Python, and TypeScript and to write functions for Google Sheets. It can optimize code by making it faster or more efficient and can also debug code and explain code.
• Image capabilities: Bard can now generate text descriptions of images, as well as write captions and titles for images.

Generative AI is being incorporated into all Googl's offerings. Duet AI for Workspace is a new set of AI-powered features that are designed to help users be more productive with Google Workspace apps. The feature listed below are currently available in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Slides:

• Smart Compose is a feature that helps you write emails more quickly and easily by suggesting text as you type.
• Live Layout is a feature that helps you format your documents more easily by automatically adjusting the layout of your text as you type.
• Smart Fill is a feature that helps you save time by automatically filling in forms and other data entry fields.
• Smart Suggest is a feature that helps you find the right words and phrases by suggesting relevant options as you type.
• Smart Cleanup is a feature that helps you improve the clarity and readability of your text by identifying and correcting errors.

Magic Editor is a new AI-powered tool that can help you edit your photos on your Pixel phone. It can remove unwanted objects, change the lighting, and even add new elements to your photos.

Immersive View for Routes  is a new feature in Google Maps which will allow you to see a 3D representation of your route. Simply enter your destination  and select the "Immersive View" option. You can then pan and zoom around the 3D representation of your route to get a better look at the landmarks, buildings, and other features that you'll encounter along the way. It is currently available in a limited number of cities, but Google plans to expand the feature to more cities in the future.

In his concluding remarks to the developers, students and tech enthusiasts assembled at the  Shoreline Amphitheatre Sundar Pichai said:

The shift with AI is as big as they come. We are approaching it boldly with a sense of excitement. And we are doing this responsibly in a way that underscores the deep commitment we feel to get it right. No one company can do this alone. Our developer community will be key to unlocking the enormous opportunities ahead, We look forward to working together and building together.

More Information

Introducing PaLM 2

Bard website

Related Articles

Google Adds Code Generation To Bard

Google's Large Language Model Takes Control

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