What if you could talk to a chatbot that knew you? A chatbot that not only references statements you’ve made in the past and questions you’ve asked, but has an intimate profile of who you are to chat with you and answer questions on a deeper level. A team at Google plans to use artificial intelligence technology to create a “bird’s eye view” of users’ lives using mobile phone data such as photos and searches.Are highly personal artificial intelligences coming?
While Google is busy integrating its generative AI model Gemini into its Pixel, Bard and other existing products, developers are proposing a completely new model codenamed Project Ellmann. By looking at users’ photos and web browsing habits, Ellmann aims to capture a “bird’s eye view” of their lives and offer more personalized conversation. The project takes its name from biographer Richard David Ellmann.
Google has not yet officially announced this project under development. The news is based on an internal company presentation leaked to CNBC. The software proposes to use Gemini to analyze Google Photos and search histories, and then develop an overview (profile) of the user’s life. The presentation used the example “Like ChatGPT, but it already knows everything about your life”…
It has advantages and disadvantages
Since the software will have a lot of relevant details surrounding the users, it can give more specific and accurate answers to the questions. For example, “What should I get my girlfriend for her birthday?” When you ask, Ellmann can make accurate suggestions about what your partner likes by looking at device data, your conversations and photos.Although personal artificial intelligence fed by your personal information and data has its advantages, it raises the question of whether people will trust such an “invasive” technology. Many people probably wouldn’t like the idea of an AI examining their search history and photos to get more relevant answers to a query. Besides, don’t “personalized ads” already do this?
There are also more “interesting” examples in Google’s presentation for the company. In the presentation, Elmann was asked “Do I have a pet?” and the names of the family members where the pattern is most frequently seen, including the name of the dog, etc. It is stated that he gave the information. Another example of a conversation was when a user asked when their sibling last visited. Another asked him to list cities similar to where they live because they were considering moving. Ellmann answered both questions. Ellmann also provided a summary of the user’s eating habits.
In the presentation, it was stated that the technology also determines which products the user intends to purchase, his interests, business and travel plans, based on screenshots. On the other hand, this is all based on a demo presentation for the company. There’s also the fact that Google kills more ideas than it completes (see: killedbygoogle.com). Therefore, it is not yet clear whether Google’s Project Ellmann will be given the green light.
Negativities aside, it is necessary to accept that technology and artificial intelligence are actually heading towards such a future. Just like in the movie “Her”, personal artificial intelligences are not far away. People also objected to “personalized ads”, and over the years this has been accepted. So we’ll see similar efforts from other companies looking to empower their assistants with advanced artificial intelligence.
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