Google's New Products Reflect Push Into Machine Learning -- Update
19 May 2016 - 8:52AM
Dow Jones News
By Jack Nicas
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. -- Google is betting it can outsmart
rivals on new products -- from virtual assistants to messaging apps
-- with advances in artificial intelligence, technology that helps
computers make decisions rather than follow instructions.
The Alphabet Inc. unit touted new software set for release later
this year, dubbed Google assistant, that will answer users'
questions and complete tasks, like pulling up movie reviews or
making a dinner reservation.
To Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., its new assistant is the
next iteration of search, part of an effort to further entrench
itself in users' daily lives by answering users' queries directly
rather than pointing them to other sources.
Many of the offerings Google touted Wednesday follow similar
products made by rivals: Google Home, a voice-controlled device
that resembles an air freshener, follows Amazon.com Inc.'s Echo.
Allo, a new messaging app incorporating artificial intelligence,
must compete against Facebook Inc.'s popular Messenger and WhatsApp
messaging apps, plus Snapchat and others. Apple Inc. has improved
its Siri virtual assistant that comes with each iPhone, while
Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft Corp. have their own offerings.
"The technology looks good in principle, but there's a
significant risk that Google is coming into some of these markets
too late to make a difference," said Jan Dawson, chief analyst at
Jackdaw Research.
In a two-hour presentation at an outdoor concert venue adjacent
to its headquarters here, Google said it would use artificial
intelligence to parse questions and their context. If a user asks,
"Who built this?" while standing next to the statue of David in
Florence, the assistant will know to answer "Michelangelo." Google
assistant will also learn users' preferences to predict what they
want.
"We want users to have an ongoing two-way dialogue with Google,"
Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai said during his first keynote
as CEO at the company's annual developers' conference. "We think of
it as building each user their own individual Google."
Mr. Pichai's keynote at the conference centered on artificial
intelligence. Tech executives and engineers say enabling software
to reason and to learn new skills promises to unlock new
applications that otherwise wouldn't have been possible by simply
programming computers with instructions.
For example, Google said it would incorporate the assistant
technology into Allo, a new messaging app it hopes can help it
catch rivals in a field where it has long trailed. Allo will use
artificial intelligence to analyze text messages and photos to
suggest replies, such as "Looks delicious!" when a friend sends a
photo of her breakfast. Through Allo, users will also be able to
request services, like booking movie tickets -- Google's own
version of the automated "chatbots" that are becoming popular in
other messaging apps, including Facebook's.
Researchers increasingly use one branch of artificial
intelligence, called machine learning, to enable computers to
"teach" themselves new skills by reviewing huge data sets. The
techniques are used to enable computers to understand speech and
interpret the meaning of users' queries and commands.
Last year, machine learning helped computers recognize images
more accurately than humans for the first time. More recently, Mr.
Pichai said Google's software had learned how to recognize eye
disease in scans. "I believe we are at a seminal moment," Mr.
Pichai said. "Things previously thought to be impossible may in
fact be possible."
Some analysts aren't convinced that artificial intelligence is
yet smart enough to work consistently for consumers. Google's
demonstrations on Wednesday "were impressive in that they showcased
technological feats, but [they] showed scenarios that appear
simple," said Forrester Research analyst Julie Ask. "We haven't yet
seen the true breakthrough experiences that...will make
conversation- or bot-based services a consumer preference over
individual apps."
Google also announced new virtual-reality software called
Daydream, which it said will allow developers to build
virtual-reality apps and experiences that will work on a variety of
VR headsets. Google is also giving manufacturers reference designs
for virtual-reality headsets and controllers, and people familiar
with the company say it plans to build its own virtual-reality
headsets, too.
That strategy mimics Google's approach with its Android
mobile-operating system that powers the vast majority of the
world's smartphones. As with Android, Google is instructing headset
makers how to configure their devices to support Daydream. The
approach will again put Google front and center in an emerging
technology, as Android did with mobile.
Google also provided more detail about its coming version of
Android, which still lacks a name, saying it has more than 250 new
features. Some updates include enhanced security, a split-screen
mode and the ability to change emojis skin color. Many changes will
be focused on making Android perform faster across a wide range of
phones.
--Nathan Olivarez-Giles contributed to this article.
Write to Jack Nicas at jack.nicas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 18, 2016 18:37 ET (22:37 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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