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Google Cloud Next '18 is happening - and they're celebrating its Cloud division in San Francisco and how they put AI into everything. Why is that important?
On the surface, it looks like Google is putting AI into every product just for the marketing effect. We have:
Gmail, which is already writing 10% of our emails ("AI written, human approved" Prabhakar said today)
Drive File Stream, which analyses your behaviour to predict which files to cache
Cloud Search, which predicts what documents will be relevant for your next meetings.
But we aren't blinded by features (you may not, but I can't deny they're bright) - so what is behind it?
Google is not just making data searchable - this would be Level 1. Presenting you a list of your most frequently contacted people is valuable, but easy. That's intern level.
Level 1
Level 1
Intern
But Google is actually applying concepts their AI learned to your data - it creates data out of data. That is value added! Value hiding in your data. That's the level of the intern who would get promoted.
Level 2
Level 2
Instant promotion
Now imagine the value added when Google turns their attention to reporting.
When they truly integrate our data with our devices.
When they start linking our browsing behaviour to what we are trying to accomplish.
When they become aware of how to make you better at YOUR job, not just at emailing.
(I'm running out of bold and all-caps)
Level OMG
Level OMG
Take all my funding, please to teach me.
Can you see why there is an ocean separating a team on Google Workspace from a team sending Word documents around? Worlds separating a company that has fully embraced this way of working at all levels from a company hesitating. Those companies are still rare, and it's your career opportunity to be such a company, team by team. We're getting there. But the clock is ticking - Google doesn't build these tools just for you.
What's in it for me?
What's in it for me?
Getting more done
Better products
What's in it for them?
What's in it for them?
More data on how the world works
Better products
Becoming irreplaceable
But is it dangerous?!
But is it dangerous?!
Replacing Google at some future date will be even harder than yanking out the undying Lotus Notes. It has become infrastructure already, communication suite, editors, and won't stop there.
That is not necessarily bad - Google is just the first big player in this new age. Any successor will blow our collective minds even more, or be something else entirely. Could Google be the last "Suite" of this kind that gets implemented in companies? Will future systems perhaps be places where people come together with the digital possibilities they already have?
We'll find out soon enough - until then, let's embrace what we're seeing emerging today. Thanks for reading!
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