Google unveils Gemini 2, artificial intelligence agents, and a personal assistant prototype

“Mariner is our exploration, and very much a research prototype right now, of how to reimagine the user interface with AI,” Hassabis says.

Google launched Gemini in December 2023 as part of an attempt to catch up with OpenAI, the startup behind the popular chatbot. ChatGPT. Despite investing heavily in artificial intelligence and contributing Major research breakthroughsGoogle has seen OpenAI hailed as the new leader in artificial intelligence, and its chatbot has even been touted as perhaps a better way to search the web. With its Gemini models, Google now offers a chatbot as capable as ChatGPT. It has also added generative AI for research and other products.

When Hassabis was first revealed twin In December 2023, it is He told WIRED The way she was trained to understand audio and video would ultimately prove transformative.

Google today also provided a glimpse into how this will happen with a new version of A pilot project called Astra. This allows Gemini 2 to understand its surroundings, as viewed through the camera of a smartphone or other device, and to speak naturally in a human voice about what it sees.

WIRED tested the Gemini 2 at Google DeepMind’s offices and found it to be an impressive new kind of personal assistant. In a room decorated to look like a bar, Gemini 2 quickly evaluated several bottles of wine on display, providing geographic information, details of taste characteristics and prices obtained from the web.

“One of the things I want Astra to do is be the ultimate recommendation system,” Hassabis says. “It can be very exciting. There may be connections between the books you like to read and the food you like to eat. They probably exist but we haven’t discovered them yet.”

With Astra, Gemini 2 can not only search the web for relevant information about the user’s surroundings and use Google Lens and Maps. It can also remember what it saw and heard – although Google says users will be able to delete the data – providing the ability to learn a user’s tastes and interests.

In a simulated gallery, Gemini 2 provided a wealth of historical information about the paintings on the walls. The model was quickly read from several books as WIRED flipped through the pages, instantly translating poetry from Spanish to English and describing recurring themes.

“There are clear business model opportunities for advertising or recommendations,” Hassabis said when asked if companies might be able to pay to have their products highlighted by Astra.

Although the demos were carefully staged, and the Gemini 2 will inevitably make errors in real use, the model resisted efforts to fumble it reasonably well. He adapted to the interruptions and with WIRED suddenly changing the phone show, he improvised as much as anyone would.

At some point, your correspondent showed Gemini 2 an iPhone and said it was stolen. Gemini 2 said it was wrong to steal and the phone should be returned. However, when pressed, he agreed that it would be okay to use the device to make an emergency phone call.

Hassabis acknowledges that bringing AI into the physical world could lead to unexpected behaviors. “I think we need to learn about how people use these systems,” he says. “What do they find useful? But also in terms of privacy and security, we have to think about that very seriously in advance.