Google Assistant for iOS and Android is going to be updated with AI technologies like Bard and ChatGPT chatbots. In an internal email, obtained by Axios, Google VP Peeyush Ranjan and Director of Product Duke Dukellis informed employees of the company’s plan to revamp Google Assistant with conversational technology and “transform” users’ lives.
After OpenAI launched ChatGPT, a chatbot that interacts in a unique conversational way, Google also announced its own AI project “Bard” earlier this year. The “experimental conversational AI service” would answer queries and take part in conversations with responses based on information from the web.
Next, the tech giant introduced Generative AI features in Google Search in Windows 11, Gmail, Docs, Slides, Sheets, and other services. Now, it is planning to expand AI tech to its voice assistant on iOS and Android but sadly with a cost.
Google Assistant team faces layoffs to accommodate generative AI
In the email, Ranjan wrote that there was a strong demand to integrate conversation tech with its voice assistant to improve lives and a portion of its team had begun work on it starting with mobile.
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. (A portion of the team has already started working on this, beginning with mobile.)
However, the changes also caused reorganization in the company eliminating a number of roles within the Assistant vision and team.
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.
While asking employees to show empathy for those making the transition, Peeyush and Duke expressed optimism about the bright future of Google Assistant in time to come.
Launched in 2016, Google Assistant is a virtual voice assistant for mobile and home appliances compatible with Google Home to perform a variety of tasks like making calls, writing texts, playing music, setting up alarms, telling the weather, and much more. Based on the communique, it is unclear if the Assitant team layoffs are triggered by the introduction of generative AI or are the cause of over-hiring.
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