Google rolled up its sleeves and doubled down its efforts on generative AIas soon as it felt the heat from ChatGPT(based on GPT-3 and now GPT-4). Today, the search giant has a ton of AI-based products in the works, fromBardand Duet AI to Assistant with Bard andan upcoming large language model (LLM) called Gemini. Amidst all the AI buzz, Google wants to make sure that its AI tools are safe for all users. In line with that, Google has decided to defend you in case any AI content generated using its tools lands you in legal trouble — but there is a caveat.
Companies involved in generative AI programs, including Google, have found themselves in the middle of increased scrutiny both for the material they are using to train their AI models and the content these tools generate for end users. For instance, Googlerecently decidedto scrap all publicly available information on the internet to train its AI model. This move expectedly invited some criticism for its ramifications concerning user privacy, consent for data access, and copyright infringement.
On the heels of these public discussions, Google hasannouncedthat it will assume responsibility in case any AI art or content created using its tools inadvertently results in copyright infringement (viaReuters). That includes providing legal help to the users affected by the artificially generated material, which is similar to the kind of protection brands like Microsoft and Adobe have promised their clients. However, it’s worth noting that Google will take the blame only if its AIaccidentallybreaks the copyright law and won’t cover you in case of intentional infringement.
In addition to protecting its users, Google is also taking measures to remove unfair biases from its training models, while it is relying on red teaming (taking the help of ethical hackers to emulate real-world-like attacks) to identify vulnerabilities and AI’s social implications. With that, the company is also adding tools to keep kids and young adults safe from topics that may not be appropriate for them.
Among more user-facing changes,Google Search has lately been testing a big AI makeover. Search can now summarize your results to offer you contextual information without digging deep into tens of search results. Meanwhile,Google Assistant is also turning into a full-blown AIwith some help from Bard that will make it much handier and more conversational, as Google demonstrated at the recentPixel 8launch event.
