Google has effectively confirmed reports it is planning a new AI tool designed to search the web on users’ behalf.
A report from The Information this week reveals Google briefly and accidentally posted an internal version of the tool dubbed “Jarvis” to the web store for Chrome browser extension.
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The report describes the tool as “artificial intelligence that takes over a person’s computer to complete tasks.” The listing itself refers to it “a helpful companion that surfs the web with you.”
While Jarvis was available to download, permissions protections mean it wasn’t usable. However, previous reporting from the same publication had suggested the tool could automate – or at least limit the human input necessary for – tasks like booking flights, taking care of the weekly online grocery shop, or performing researching.
Previous reporting had revealed this tool would work by taking screenshots of what’s on the computer screen and using AI to interpreting the imagery. From here it could take action like clicking a button or even typing into text fields.
It is thought the new Jarvis tool could arrive in early December as part of the next release of the Gemini large language model.
The tool could be similar to Anthropic’s recently launched tool for the Claude LLM, which also commandeers the cursor and mouse to perform tasks that “require dozens, and sometimes even hundreds, of steps to complete.”
A new frontier for AI?
Is this something you’d trust to do for you? Have you tried getting a flight booking changed quickly and easily without it costing you money? There’s no way I’m trusting an AI to take a few screenshots from my web browser and all of a sudden I’m on the way to New Zealand tomorrow. I’m exaggerating, of course, but I’m going to want personal autonomy over things like booking flights. If it can find the cheapest flights for me and present them in a big list for me to choose from? That I’m up for.
