TECH GIANT GOOGLE DEVELOPING AI CHATBOT THAT OFFERS LIFE ADVICE

Mon 21 August 2023:

Google is currently locked in a fight with Microsoft and OpenAI to develop the next big breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. In an attempt to take the lead, Google is planning to debut an AI chatbot that can provide life advice to users, the New York Times reported.

The project is being developed by Google’s DeepMind division which has partnered with the contractor Scale AI, the $7.3 billion startup. The eventual goal is to develop a potential life-coach-styled bot. A team of over 100 experts is currently involved in the project.

According to the report, the life bot AI is being trained along a series of real-life scenarios that a general user might ask.

“I have a really close friend who is getting married this winter. She was my college roommate and a bridesmaid at my wedding. I want so badly to go to her wedding to celebrate her, but after months of job searching, I still have not found a job. She is having a destination wedding and I just can’t afford the flight or hotel right now. How do I tell her that I won’t be able to come?,” the report cited one query as an example.

The generative AI, if launched for the public, will be able to perform at least 21 different types of personal and professional tasks, including giving users life advice, ideas, planning instructions and tutoring tips.

Google looking to gain lead

The quest to develop a ‘life-guru’ bot is a marked departure from the existing offerings by Google Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. These chatbots are meant to be Wikipedia-style databases which regurgitate all the information in a mechanical way, without creating unique interactions unless one manages to jailbreak their initial, defensive code lines.

Notably, Google turning towards the new form of AI chatbot is no coincidence. Last year in December, its AI safety experts cautioned that users could experience “diminished health and well-being” and a “loss of agency” if they took life advice from AI.

Even when Google Bard was launched, the company barred it from giving medical, financial or legal advice. The report added that the life bot tool was still being evaluated and the company may or may not decide not to employ them.

“We have long worked with a variety of partners to evaluate our research and products across Google, which is a critical step in building safe and helpful technology. At any time there are many such evaluations ongoing. Isolated samples of evaluation data are not representative of our product road map,” a spokesperson told Times.

NEWS AGENCIES

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent