I’m typically not one for sweeping tech predictions.
This year, though, it seems safe to put one particularly bold premonition out into the virtual wild. It’s less of a prediction, mind you, and more of a certainty we’re already seeing play out:
This year, we’re gonna be hearing an awful lot about AI — in an awful lot of our existing platforms, products, and Android-associated services.
A daring prediction to make, I know — right? But it’s one worth discussing, ’cause while most of the tech-watching world is going gaga over the endless AI hype oozing out of every digital corner right now, I’m finding myself growing weary of the buzzword-chasing sensationalism those two luscious letters are creating. And I’m growing increasingly skeptical about the practical, real-world value most of this stuff is actually poised to bring us.
So while tech companies near and far encourage us to ooh and ahh over the latest injections of alleged artificial intelligence into their various wares, I’d like to step back for a moment and ask a simple, pointed question — one I’ve yet to see anyone effectively answer:
How much of the current rush to cram some form of “AI” into everything imaginable is actually about what’s useful and advantageous for us, as human users of these creations? And how much is more about chasing the latest buzzword du jour and finding a reason to use the term “AI,” no matter what it accomplishes or how it fits into our lives?
It’s a question worth asking. And the honest answer might reveal a lot about our current tech moment and what’s on the horizon for 2024.
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Google, Android, and AI everywhere
As I write this, we’re on the brink of a bunch of monumental launches in the AI’ization of our current tech landscape. (That’s a word, right?!)
To wit: At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, everyone and their mother is showing off some manner of newfangled AI-enhanced gizmo — a “tsunami of AI,” as one analyst put it. From chatbots in the car to the world’s first AI-powered grill and even an AI-enhanced toothbrush (yes, really!), artificial intelligence is everywhere you look across the sprawling and suspiciously sticky convention floor. In fact, Intel’s motto for the event is “AI everywhere,” which pretty much says it all.
But does anyone genuinely want all of that? Is it about serving us, as humans, or more about “AI” for the sake of “AI” and its current marketing advantages?
Beyond CES and specific to the realm of Android, Google’s gearing up to give us a whole new version of Assistant that’s built with the company’s AI-based Bard chatbot at its core. While folks who rely on the current version of Assistant for basic tasks like memos, reminders, and connected device control have been finding that service to be less and less reliable with every passing month, Google’s been…
2024-01-11 22:00:05
Link from www.computerworld.com rnrn