Google shows off what ChatGPT would be like in Gmail and Google Docs(arstechnica.com)
arstechnica.com
Google shows off what ChatGPT would be like in Gmail and Google Docs
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/03/google-shows-off-what-chatgpt-would-be-like-in-gmail-and-google-docs/
64 comments
Slowly, no one even realized, our jobs were replaced by AI talking to itself.
I had a "OMG, we live in the future!" moment reading this headline, isn't this what computers in sci-fi movies do (ok admittedly there aren't a lot of sci-fi movies where office work is the plot): you ask it to do something like yo would an assistant, and it delivers you the results. Something like "Computer, scan planet for lifeforms" on Star Trek.
Maybe someone should build a KITT from Knight Rider using ChatGPT (just for his sass, leave out the self-driving part, that's Elon's department (/s)).
Maybe someone should build a KITT from Knight Rider using ChatGPT (just for his sass, leave out the self-driving part, that's Elon's department (/s)).
Knight Rider style: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/03/gm-pl...
KITT talking scene is so relevant to 2023
... which illustrates the pointlessness of a whole lot of business activities.
"I’m Going To Need Those TPS Reports ASAP."
"I’m Going To Need Those TPS Reports ASAP."
Bullshit jobs get replaced by bullshit generators.
Same. More generally, I'd like a model that infers the most likely prompt(s) from transformer-generated words or images. I would much rather know what the prompter was trying to do than what his model generated as a result, and treat whatever was generated as a lossy wire encoding.
Yeah, this has been a meme in the ancient times (2 months ago or so)
https://i.redd.it/wc8ne97ainda1.jpg
https://i.redd.it/wc8ne97ainda1.jpg
It's almost as verbose as XML.
LOL
XML is not verbose if you stick to using primarily attributes instead of elements. Unfortunately, that pattern never had popularity.
Attributes don't map well to standard collections, so it is clumsy to parse and use in most programming languages.
If the revealed preference of everyone is short, terse speech, why isn't business writing optimizing for that?
Because it’s not polite.
Just waiting for google to have a superior overall AI, but so phenomenally fucking up the product launch that it just fades into obscurity while getting eclipsed by its competitors.
Really I can't think of anything more google than that. No idea why shareholders still tolerate their crap.
Really I can't think of anything more google than that. No idea why shareholders still tolerate their crap.
More Google than that: the product launch is wildly successful and they get a lot of traction, only to succumb to institutional ADHD and sunset it to free up resources to launch yet another chat app.
Honestly, I’d love to know what childhood trauma afflicted Google to be the way it is.
Honestly, I’d love to know what childhood trauma afflicted Google to be the way it is.
While I like to joke about Google products failing as much as the next guy, you've got to give them credit for mostly being focused on research and publishing their results publicly.
Other than, you know, a company that calls themselves "Open"AI, who now even consider it too dangerous (due to competition), to even release the number of parameters of their most recent model, much less talk about the actual research.
Other than, you know, a company that calls themselves "Open"AI, who now even consider it too dangerous (due to competition), to even release the number of parameters of their most recent model, much less talk about the actual research.
It seems clear that the recent golden age of AI research is behind us. OpenAI fired the first shot, and now every company is scrambling to put every dollar out of their budget into productization/weaponization of the tech. There is zero incentive for anyone to publish papers, models and weights now that guarding them as trade secrets is infinitely more valuable. It isn't researchers calling the shots now but but PMs.
This guy gets it.
Why should we give them credit for failing to build a working product and instead spamming research papers to conferences?
Hm, and what do you think begat all of this LLM fun in the first place?
Very coincidentally I am trying to understand AI better, and I am reading "Regular Expression Puzzles and AI Coding Assistants" and it says on its first few pages:
Due to transformer deep neural networks mostly pushed forward to a 2017 paper called "Attention is all you need". Prompted by your question I searched where the people who wrote this paper work at, and... (unsurprisingly drum roll), a team from Google.
Due to transformer deep neural networks mostly pushed forward to a 2017 paper called "Attention is all you need". Prompted by your question I searched where the people who wrote this paper work at, and... (unsurprisingly drum roll), a team from Google.
It is well-known that Google had world-class researchers working on AI for a long time now, and that they pioneered a lot of techniques used in the recent AI craze.
I don't think it's that well known, and for an advertising company, Google's marketing department doesn't seem very good. For instance, Google translate has been an ML model for more than a decade. They dropped a bunch of hand written code and replaced it with a model. The Google home assistants use an ML model to do their speech to text transcription. Google's tensor hardware is world class for ML research. But all people say is that Google search sucks now and wah they killed off Reader/Stadia/etc. Transformers will possibly have a bigger effect on society than Google search did and I'm doubtful Google will get proper recognition for that outside of circles like ours.
> Transformers will possibly have a bigger effect on society than Google search did and I'm doubtful Google will get proper recognition for that outside of circles like ours.
Do you think the general public gives Xerox PARC a lot of credit for modern computing? I don't think so, and it's fine. It will just be well known among technology enthusiasts and historians of technology.
Do you think the general public gives Xerox PARC a lot of credit for modern computing? I don't think so, and it's fine. It will just be well known among technology enthusiasts and historians of technology.
It actually does bother me when people refer to Xerox as a failed photocopy machine company without acknowledging PARC, but I'm aware I'm in the minority here.
I also think The Dream Machine should be required reading in a history class in all CS curriculum, but I'm not in academia.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/722412
I also think The Dream Machine should be required reading in a history class in all CS curriculum, but I'm not in academia.
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/722412
And yet they have nothing to show for it other than some words on paper. Meanwhile OpenAI is eating their lunch by offering an actual product that people can use and interact with. Nobody cares that Google did the research they used to make it. Talk is cheap.
Their AI efforts go towards google search and ads.
> had
It's all that hiring of the best of the best.
You probably have a point. The best of the best penalty get bored quickly and want to build the new shiny thing. We need more average people that can take care of maintaining existing applications.
I don't think it is fair to compare an MBA/Suit/Executive CEO type with risk taking Entrepreneurial/Founder CEO types. They have a completely different mindset and motives.
A suit essentially plays a defensive game. He can't take risks. CEO is just a job. The goal is to not ... things up and basically collect a hefty paycheck every year. You become a suit by being highly risk averse and if you take risks and if it doesn't pan out you will be kicked out.
A founder CEO type is essentially a wild high energy high risk charismatic type. You can't compare someone like SAMA or Zuck or Steve Jobs or Elon who won't take no for an answer and go all in to make their dreams come true.
A suit essentially plays a defensive game. He can't take risks. CEO is just a job. The goal is to not ... things up and basically collect a hefty paycheck every year. You become a suit by being highly risk averse and if you take risks and if it doesn't pan out you will be kicked out.
A founder CEO type is essentially a wild high energy high risk charismatic type. You can't compare someone like SAMA or Zuck or Steve Jobs or Elon who won't take no for an answer and go all in to make their dreams come true.
Did you just compare Sam Altman to Zackerberg, Jobs and Elon?
It will be a real name policy again. The AI will refuse to use any pseudonym you give it and it will insist on always calling your real full name.
It will be extra creepy because, you wont even be logged in, it will just identify you by using all the data it has about you.
Occasionally when you are chatting to it, it will blurt out some some embarrassing or private information about you.
It will be extra creepy because, you wont even be logged in, it will just identify you by using all the data it has about you.
Occasionally when you are chatting to it, it will blurt out some some embarrassing or private information about you.
> No idea why shareholders still tolerate their crap.
Shareholders have no option. Larry + Sergey are still majority shareholders iirc.
Shareholders have no option. Larry + Sergey are still majority shareholders iirc.
we don't know if they have superior overall AI..
> Just like how Google put social features into every product back in the G+ days, the plan going forward is to build ChatGPT-style generative text into every Google product.
Ah yes, the famous G+ integration that has been widely acclaimed as a successful, long-lasting and profitable move.
Ah yes, the famous G+ integration that has been widely acclaimed as a successful, long-lasting and profitable move.
You know what still pisses me off? It’s tiny compared to most things, but it was the first thing that turned me against Google.
The removal of the ‘+’ search operator.
Before Google+ was a thing, a leading ‘+’ before a search term meant “this must be in the results”. Then they hijacked it for G+ and made me start "quoting" "every" "important" "term" in my query.
Or maybe it was the Reader shutdown. Those both happened around the same time, right?
The removal of the ‘+’ search operator.
Before Google+ was a thing, a leading ‘+’ before a search term meant “this must be in the results”. Then they hijacked it for G+ and made me start "quoting" "every" "important" "term" in my query.
Or maybe it was the Reader shutdown. Those both happened around the same time, right?
I miss it too, but it was the sharp end of the wedge in the dumbing-down of search query interpretation. Now they'll take every word of your query, find all the synonyms, word-stem everything (think "kicked" -> "kick"), and search for that instead of what you typed.
I know, some (the majority of) users don't know or care about the difference, and I'm glad that you can for now still enclose the things you mean verbatim in quotation marks, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that disappear.
I know, some (the majority of) users don't know or care about the difference, and I'm glad that you can for now still enclose the things you mean verbatim in quotation marks, but I wouldn't be surprised to see that disappear.
The + came after that, to cancel that out.
> You know what still pisses me off?
Yes, because ChatGPT knows that is the most probable reply to the prompt.
Yes, because ChatGPT knows that is the most probable reply to the prompt.
Must be devastating for the marketing team at Google to have their new product Kleenex'd like this.
Lol I had the same thought reading that headline. I wonder if the author even realizes that not all generative AI is ChatGPT (probably not because the bar for 'tech journalist' seems to be quite low).
The author pretty clearly knows that not all generative AI is ChatGPT if you read even the first line of the article.
However, the vast non tech readership wouldn’t know what generative AI is, but nearly everyone and their mother knows what ChatGPT is.
So the headline is extremely effective in conveying what Google’s demo does while being understandable by the largest possible audience. It’s an extremely valid and appropriate headline.
However, the vast non tech readership wouldn’t know what generative AI is, but nearly everyone and their mother knows what ChatGPT is.
So the headline is extremely effective in conveying what Google’s demo does while being understandable by the largest possible audience. It’s an extremely valid and appropriate headline.
I bet the person who wrote the article and the person who wrote the title are two different people.
Both did the jobs they’re supposed to be doing. The article writer knew what they were talking about, and the headline writer knew how to get clicks.
Both did the jobs they’re supposed to be doing. The article writer knew what they were talking about, and the headline writer knew how to get clicks.
That's true a lot of places, but Ars writers actually write their own headlines. In fact they're required to write two, and the CMS will A/B test them for an hour before picking a winner. You can tell which one is the "A hed" because it's in the URL. This one is the A hed, so the author probably preferred this over the other one. (Not sure what it was.)
What's "Kleenex'd"?
Nevermind, I went and googled it.
Nevermind, I went and googled it.
First ChatGPT request - "Why can't my Google Workspace account do everything my @gmail account can?"
Stop it! He’s already dead!!!
My mind is blown right now. I have noticed differences between the two, but I thought they were just visual/UI differences. Is there somewhere I could learn more about how Google Workspace does not have parity with a free Gmail account?
> With Google Workspace Individual you get additional premium features including longer group calls and intelligent noise cancellation with Google Meet, and easy appointment booking through your own professional booking page.
from https://workspace.google.com/individual/
See also:
https://workspace.google.com/pricing.html
https://support.google.com/a/answer/175121?hl=en
from https://workspace.google.com/individual/
See also:
https://workspace.google.com/pricing.html
https://support.google.com/a/answer/175121?hl=en
Do any of these show you what the workspace editions miss out on relative to regular Gmail?
One I can tell you from personal experience is I couldn't set up a Workspace account on my Pixel to use Google Pay with NFC about a year ago. I don't know if it's possible today. I don't remember which step in the process didn't work. There are a couple other things I've run into trying to use a Workspace account as my personal account. But that's the main one that sticks in my mind.
There are a large number of reasons but they all boil down to legal uncertainties. Gmail accounts and workspace accounts get different terms of service and it’s not always possible to know that the newer features are compatible with the workspace terms, or worth finding out.
I wonder if this sort of email assistant could someday automate the process of sending an EECB.
Back in the days before Twitter and HN, we had to escalate support cases by figuring out the format that a company used to assign its internal email addresses, and forwarding a polite inquiry to as many high-ranking executives as we could find.
It would be nice if an AI assistant could craft such messages and find appropriate recipients. What could possibly go wrong?
Back in the days before Twitter and HN, we had to escalate support cases by figuring out the format that a company used to assign its internal email addresses, and forwarding a polite inquiry to as many high-ranking executives as we could find.
It would be nice if an AI assistant could craft such messages and find appropriate recipients. What could possibly go wrong?
This is one of the more exciting cases for AI that it can do:
+ Ingest a bunch of fine tuning data (previous emails)
+ Output a bunch of new but just rewritten output
+ It only has to be "mostly right" most of the time
Eg, send the top 100 likely emails and we're happy if 20-30 of them land.
On the other hand what I just described is about to be in the hands of every spammer... so there is that.
+ Ingest a bunch of fine tuning data (previous emails)
+ Output a bunch of new but just rewritten output
+ It only has to be "mostly right" most of the time
Eg, send the top 100 likely emails and we're happy if 20-30 of them land.
On the other hand what I just described is about to be in the hands of every spammer... so there is that.
We have come full circle. Clippy is back.... "It looks like you're trying to write a letter to your wife, would you like help with that?" OMG
From their video
> "Draft a thank you note to the team." Refine draft, "I'm feeling lucky."
Well.. I'm feeling extremely put off. They should have stuck to spring fashions marketing copy. If I was being managed and this is what was being done, and I found out, I'd be inclined to quit on the spot.
Encoded is a backwards idea that one should write to merely be read instead of to express ones self.
> "Draft a thank you note to the team." Refine draft, "I'm feeling lucky."
Well.. I'm feeling extremely put off. They should have stuck to spring fashions marketing copy. If I was being managed and this is what was being done, and I found out, I'd be inclined to quit on the spot.
Encoded is a backwards idea that one should write to merely be read instead of to express ones self.
Been waiting for this. Super excitingSaid it somewhere else but AI is a feature, not a product in most cases and this is the perfect place for it.
Heh, this is just a mock-up. I guess Google really IS far, far behind in the AI race.
[deleted]
next post in a few months: google shutdown google AI.
Dear all,
Effective immediately, Google will be sunsetting all of its operations except for the essential services required for the operation of our AI system. We will not be introducing any new services at this time.
We understand that this announcement may come as a surprise, but we believe that refocusing our efforts on our AI system will allow us to provide the best possible experience for our users. We want to assure you that we will continue to maintain our essential services at the highest level of quality and reliability.
We appreciate the support of our loyal customers, partners, and employees, and we look forward to continuing to work with you.
Best regards,
GooBot
CEO of Google
Effective immediately, Google will be sunsetting all of its operations except for the essential services required for the operation of our AI system. We will not be introducing any new services at this time.
We understand that this announcement may come as a surprise, but we believe that refocusing our efforts on our AI system will allow us to provide the best possible experience for our users. We want to assure you that we will continue to maintain our essential services at the highest level of quality and reliability.
We appreciate the support of our loyal customers, partners, and employees, and we look forward to continuing to work with you.
Best regards,
GooBot
CEO of Google
You're sending an email. You enter "I'm on it" into the help me write box, and the AI generates a complete corporate-speak email using all the latest buzzwords.
Then the recipients get the email and the summarize feature shows them: "I'm on it".