Posted on 01/10/2024 8:42:42 PM PST by Red Badger
THE SCOOP
Google is laying off hundreds of people working on its voice-activated Google Assistant software and eliminating a similar number of roles on its knowledge and information product teams, a Google spokesperson confirmed to Semafor on Wednesday.
Google told Semafor the restructuring would help improve Google Assistant as it explores integrating newer artificial intelligence technology into its products. The company announced in October that it was using its generative AI chatbot Bard to build a new version of Google Assistant that “extends beyond voice, understands and adapts to you and handles personal tasks in new ways.”
Google has been making periodic job cuts over the past year, including in its recruiting and news divisions, but it has not conducted company-wide layoffs since last January, when it eliminated approximately 12,000 roles. Its parent Alphabet reported having over 180,000 employees as of September 2023.
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Google Assistant debuted in 2016 to compete with Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri, and together, the three voice assistants defined the first wave of mainstream question-and-answer products powered by artificial intelligence.
Over the past year, large language models — the tech behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT and similar tools — have transformed the market, and tech giants are now figuring out the best ways to integrate them into existing product lines.
NOTABLE
Google is also planning to restructure its 30,000-person advertising sales department, prompting anxiety about job cuts, The Information reported. The new Bard-idified Google Assistant has yet to be released, but 9to5Google has an overview of several new features reportedly coming to Android phones.
Ping!......................
I can’t wait. How have I made it this far in life without Google Bard. I feel so fortunate. /s
When ChatGPT first appeared, I played with it for a couple days, and then put it aside, and haven’t bothered to deal with any of the publicly accessible AI bots since then. I have too much real work to do that requires reliable, accurate, and defensible technical answers and decisions.
For now I consider the public AI bots a glorified text video game. Maybe they’ll get better in time.
In the Soviet Union there was 2 channels. Channel one was propaganda 24/7. If you turned to channel 2 a shadowy figure would appear, say your name then ‘Comrade! Turn back to channel one!’.
Google wants to make a kinder, gentler , better brainwashing Channel One.
They laid off all these people because their AI is now powerful enough to write its own software!
What could possibly go wrong??????................
They will get better.
Just wait until they fire everybody at Google.......................
But now people will have time to pursue their real hobbies and interests and become more creative. They will have more leisure time and time to spend with family and friends. It will be great! /s
They can learn to code............oh, wait............
Where’s the “like” button when I need it?
Back to more quality and creative time.
Bard and ChatGPT and the likes are just aggregators. They aggregate information from a few (mostly left wing) sites and present that in a concise readable form. And we are supposed to marvel at what a leap in technology that is.
Guess I’m old school..only device I talk to is my phone when using it as a phone. My cell stays at the house unless it’s an overnight trip somewhere. No Alexa, Siri or anything like it in my home. No computer cameras unless I plug it in for a reason. The new car the wife got is all google BS and wants you to login and comes with an app I said absolutely not, we’re not logging into a car. It is connected to our wifi because of the constant updates which are pathetic. When a new system update is needed you have to lock the car up and can’t drive it for 90 minutes...who thought that was a good idea?
You start it and wait a few minutes to “load” before you can drive it. Pathetic POS.
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