5 Google I/O announcements that actually matter

Google’s annual developer conference, I/O, which kicked off Tuesday in Mountain View, California, was full of announcements of new AI features, hardware and gadgets. Our reporters were on the ground covering all the updates CNET Live Blog.

Here is a summary of some of the highlights.

Gemini Spark automates tasks

AI was at the forefront of Google I/O this year, and the main announcement was Google’s new “personal AI agent,” called Gemini Spark. Similar to Anthropic’s Claude Cowork or Microsoft 365 Copilot, Gemini Spark will run 24/7 in the background to offload tasks.

It can comb through different Google software accounts like Gmail, Docs, and Chats to perform tasks like compiling information from your documents into weekly emails to your team or sending a friendly reminder to anyone who hasn’t responded to your group.

Spark will be rolled out to user testing immediately, with a beta expected for Google AI Ultra subscribers in the US next week. For others, Google says it will be available in Chrome later this summer.

Read more: Google Spark uses Gemini AI technology to help plan your life

Ask AI-powered YouTube search

Google AI search features are coming to YouTube. This feature, called Ask YouTube, allows you to make very specific inquiries on the platform, such as “how to change the oil in a 2019 Subaru Outback.” If the initial results don’t show you what you’re looking for, you can ask follow-up questions to improve your results further. Ask YouTube will jump directly to the relevant part of the video.

You can try the feature now If you are a US Prime Member and are 18 years or older. Google says it will roll it out to more users in the near future.

Read more: Google’s Ask YouTube searches for the exact part of your video that answers your question

Google is expanding its AI identification tool

Google is also trying to make AI easier to learn about. Google’s SynthID invisible watermarking system It was released late last year, but was limited to the Gemini app. Now, Google will be able to detect AI-generated photos, videos, and audio using the watermark in Google Chrome and Google Search. You will be able to use Google Research circle The feature, which lets you right-click on an image and ask if any part of it was created using AI.

Along with its Gemini AI model, Google has partnered with… ChatGPT-OpenAI Maker, an AI voice generator Eleven laboratories and Nvidia on its SynthID system.

“It’s great to see collaboration between industries,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai. “We look forward to expanding to include more partners and setting the standards of transparency for the age of AI.”

Read more: Google is expanding its AI profiling tool to include Chrome and Search

Live docs brain dumps

There’s no shortage of AI tools that can produce large amounts of text, but they often take some back-and-forth time to get what you need. Google’s new Docs Live feature works directly in Google Docs, and can turn your random thoughts — spoken or written — into a piece of coherent writing. If you give it permission, it will also use your connected Google accounts (Gmail, Drive, Chat) and the web to fine-tune your results further.

Docs Live will be available for Subscribers to Google Artificial Intelligence When it launches this summer, it will be limited to those in the AI ​​Pro ($20 per month) or Ultra ($100 or $200 per month) tiers.

Read more: Turn your spoken conversations into cohesive articles with Google Docs Live

Lots of smart glasses

If you are interested in the world Smart glassesGoogle debuted a slew of new options at its I/O conference this year. CNET’s resident wearable tech expert, Scott Stein, was on hand to test them all, and was impressed by the new options.

“They could be the best smart glasses ever.” Stein wrote. “They could also help redefine what smart glasses are. They’re the first glasses I’ve seen that really look ready to work with the apps and services we already have on phones.”

there Valid privacy concerns About wearing smart glasses, it seems like Google is still working on them. Shahram Izadi, head of Google’s XR division, told Stein that the company plans to go into more detail about data privacy on its Glasses at its fall event. Currently, Izadi says all Google Smart Glasses come with a pedestrian LED that lets people around you know when the camera or microphone is active.

“Looking at the privacy aspects, you have to design with privacy in mind from the beginning and leverage some of the standards that have been established in the AI ​​world,” Izadi told Stein. “We need to raise the bar, for sure.”

Read more: Google has a lot of new smart glasses coming soon. I wore them all