Google Announces New AI Email Tool To Make Sorting, Responding, And Deleting Messages Easier
Artificial intelligence is slowly taking over every sector of technology and the world. AI is often used to make life on the internet easier, and now, Google is tackling an issue many of us face in our daily online lives; organizing our emails.
Demis Hassabis is the head of Google DeepMind, an artificial intelligence research lab that focuses on developing new and innovative AI tools, solutions, and technologies for users. Hassabis recently spoke at the SXSW London festival, a six-day event that brings together hundreds of major figures in the digital world. From music to film to technology as a whole, the event covers the successes of the industries and what’s to come in the future.
At this year’s SXSW London festival, AI was a major focus, as it’s being integrated throughout multiple sectors of the world’s biggest industries, and will only continue to be more present.
Speaking at the event, Hassabis revealed that him and his team are working on a “next generation email” platform that’s meant to help users sort through their inbox, reply to the most important messages, and ensure they’re not wasting their time sorting through spam.
While speaking, Hassabis emphasized the role of AI in our society and the massive potential for growth in the future. He stated how he can see AI being used to cure diseases, solve the climate crisis, and bring peace to many parts of the world in the future, but for now, it’s being utilized to make parts of our day-to-day lives easier.
“The thing I really want – and we’re working on – is can we have a next-generation email. I would love to get rid of my email. I would pay thousands of dollars per month to get rid of that.”
Hassabis plans to create “something that would just understand what are the bread-and-butter emails, and answer in your style – and maybe make some of the easier decisions.”
Hassabis went on to discuss how he can see AI being used for protection against certain algorithms that are designed to drain tech users’ attention away from more important tasks.
“I’m very excited about the idea of a universal AI assistant that knows you really well, enriches your life by maybe giving you amazing recommendations, and helps to take care of mundane chores for you,” he said.
“[It] basically gives you more time and maybe protects your attention from other algorithms trying to gain your attention. I think we can actually use AI in service of the individual.”
When discussing the future of AI development generally, Hassabis stated that he was shocked to see how quickly artificial general intelligence (AGI) is being advanced in big tech spaces. AGI is a more human-like cognition version of AI that can work on a large amount of tasks.
Since AGI is more advanced, Hassabis has called out major companies, as well as both the US and China to be collaborative when it comes to AGI.
“I hope at least on the scientific level and a safety level we can find some common ground, because in the end it’s for the good of all of humanity. It’s going to affect the whole of humanity,” he said, predicting that AGI is likely to become more present in the next five to 20 years.
“That is very short if you think about how momentous a moment that will be,” he stated.
“I think it’ll be nothing short of a new Industrial Revolution, effectively. For something this fundamental, I think it’s important to try to have as much foresight ahead of time as you can.”
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.