The Google I/O 2024 keynote was a jam-packed Gemini fest, and CEO Sundar Pichai was right to describe it as its version of The Eras Tour – specifically, the “Gemini Era” – at the very top.
The entire keynote was about Gemini and AI; in fact, Google said the latter 121 times. From unveiling a futuristic AI assistant called “Project Astra” that can run on a phone – and maybe glasses, one day – to Gemini being infused into nearly every service or product the company offers, AI was definitely the big theme.
It was all enough to melt the mind of all but the most ardent LLM enthusiast, so we’ve broken down the 7 most important things that Google unveiled and discussed during its main I/O 2024 keynote.
1. Google dropped Project Astra – an “AI agent” for everyday life
So it turns out that Google does have an answer to OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Microsoft’s CoPilot. Project Astra, dubbed as an “AI agent” for everyday life, is essentially Google Lens on steroids and looks seriously impressive, able to understand, reason, and respond to live video and audio.
Demoed on a Pixel phone in a recorded video, the user was seen walking around an office, providing a live feed of the rear camera and asking Astra questions off the cuff. Gemini was viewing and understanding the visuals while also tackling the questions.
It speaks to the multi-modal and long-context in the backend of Gemini, which works in a jiffy to identify and deliver a response quickly. In the demonstration, it knew what a specific part of a speaker was and could even identify a neighborhood in London. It’s also generative because it quickly created a band name for a cute pup next to a stuffed animal (see the video above).
It won’t be rolling out immediately, but developers and press like us at TechRadar will get to try it out at I/O 2024. And while Google didn’t clarify, there was a teaser of glasses for Astra, which might mean Google Glass could make a comeback.
Still, even as a demo during Google I/O, it’s seriously impressive and potentially very compelling. It could supercharge smartphones and the current assistants we have from Google and even Apple. Furthermore, it also shows off Google’s true AI ambitions, a tool that can be immensely helpful and no chore at all to use.
2. Google Photos got a helpful AI boost from Gemini
Ever wanted to quickly find a specific photo you captured at some point in the distant past? Maybe it’s a note from a loved one, an early photo of a dog as a puppy, or even your license plate. Well, Google is making that wish a reality with a major update to Google Photos that fuses it with a Gemini. This gives it access to your library, lets it search it, and easily delivers the result you’re looking for.
In a demo on stage, Sundar Pichai revealed that you can ask it for your license plate, and Photos will deliver an image showing it and the digits/characters that make up your plate. Similarly, you can ask for photos of when your child learned to swim along with any more specifics. It should make even the most disorganized photo libraries a bit easier to search.
Google has dubbed this feature “Ask Photos,” and will roll it out to all users in the “coming weeks”. And it will almost certainly come in handy, and make folks who don’t use Google Photos a bit jealous.