Tech giant Google is seeking to “supercharge” its Assistant application by incorporating the latest Large Language Models (LLMs) technology. According an internal email reported by Axios, the Google Assistant team is explore the practical capabilities of generative AI in its integration with its virtual assistant
Recent developments in the LLMs space have been staggering and much so in its applications. LLMs-powered chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard have seen mass adaptation following the useful functionalities offered. Google released Bard (its own conversational generative AI chatbot) back in May as a rival to ChatGPT.
The Google Assistant team has already started working on “exploring what a supercharged Assistant, powered by the latest LLM technology would look like”. The team is reportedly beginning with the mobile version. This could see Assistant’s integration with the generative AI models that powers Bard in the major revamp.
“As a team, we need to focus on delivering high-quality, critical product experiences for our users. We’ve also seen the profound potential of generative AI to transform people’s lives and see a huge opportunity to explore what a supercharged Assistant, powered by the latest LLM technology, would look like,” part of the internal memo reads.
Despite the many applications in powering chatbots, LLMs are yet to be utilized in this particular tech space. The ability to generate content from trained data, inference from the internet, and bear almost “human-like” conversations will be a huge evolution of the current Virtual Assistant.
Consequently, Google is laying off part of its Assistant team as it focuses on revamping Google Assistant by incorporating generative AI. Part of the internal memo reads, “As part of this update, we are also eliminating a small number of roles within the team. We have already let these teammates know and we will provide dedicated support to help them through this transition.”
Recent Changes on Assistant
Google discontinued Conversational Actions for Assistant on June 13, 2023 following user feedback: “users want to engage with their favorite apps using voice, and developers want to build upon their existing investments in Android”. This feature allowed one to create custom conversations or experiences with users.
Official development details and eventual release time of the revamped product are not yet out.
