WTF?! There's still a lot of pushback against generative AI from most of the public. Not only are there concerns about the technology taking jobs and plagiarising, but many worry about control being taken out of humans' hands. Google and other companies' solution, it seems, is to create AI agents that can take over your PC, moving the mouse cursor, browsing the web, and entering text.
Google's Project Jarvis will be shown off as soon as December, when it releases the next version of its Gemini LLM, reports The Information. It's the latest in a line of recently announced AI agents that can take limited control of a PC.
Jarvis only works with web browsers – being a Google products means it will be optimized for Chrome. The AI is supposed to automate everyday, web-based tasks by taking screenshots, interpreting the information, then clicking buttons or entering text. The current system takes a few seconds between each action.
Users can also give Jarvis commands directly, such as making purchases, filling out forms, compiling data into tables, opening a series of webpages, or booking flights online.
The idea behind Jarvis is that it will make AI tools more useful and accessible, especially to those with no prior AI experience, as it removes the need to develop APIs. Users just type what they want Jarvis to do and it (should) do it.
Google, a.k.a. Cyberdyne Systems
Google isn't the only company putting more control into the virtual hands of AIs. Anthropic's updated Claude LLM gives users the option of granting the tool limited access and control over a PC. Examples of what Claude can do include filling out forms, planning an outing, and building a website. Anthropic admitted that the system is still "cumbersome and error-prone." Nevertheless, ChatGPT-maker OpenAI is reportedly working on its own version.
Response to the news has been about as negative as one would expect. Beyond the obvious privacy implications, there's also the risk of the AI doing something wrong, which AI systems are prone to do, leading to consequences for users. It seems companies haven't been put off by the outrage over Microsoft Recall, which takes screenshots of everything being done on a PC so users can search through it.
In a totally unrelated piece of news, Google dropped its famous "Don't be evil" motto from its corporate code of conduct just over six years ago.