Google recently introduced “Gemini,” its latest large language model that aims to knock out OpenAI’s GPT-4. It’s a multimodal LLM, understanding text, images, video, audio, and more. Google’s hungry for data to keep Gemini sharp, and that includes tapping into your personal searches and photos to fuel its growth through a new AI project.
According to internal documents obtained byCNBC, Google’s hustling on Project Ellmann, which will snoop into your pictures, files, and Search history with the goal of spinning “your life story” into a chatbot. The company named it after the late biographer Richard David Ellmann.
With Gemini at the helm, this AI is set to give you a virtual “bird’s-eye view” of your life. It dives into your Google account, snags files, and even checks out written biographies and past moments to get the whole picture. It may act as your digital detective, sifting through files to highlight the juiciest events.
Whether Google has a plan to roll out these tricks inGoogle Photosis still up in the air. Back in November, the search giant revealedGoogle Photos' new ability to sort similar photos into friendly albumsand tidy up your screenshots.
During a recent “internal summit” where company executives and employees presented the project, Google’s team claimed that the AI can figure out your birthdate or whether you’ve got siblings. The goal is to extract meaningful moments from your stuff and metadata to weave together your life story. Think graduations, class reunions, weddings, and parenthood. And if that’s not enough, it’s snooping on your photos and search habits to guess your interests, top apps, pets, and whatnot.
Ellman goes as far as picking up on your eating routine. Say, you flood it with pictures of pizza and pasta; the AI then connects the dots and figures you’re probably an Italian food fanatic.
Google’s presentation finally introduced Ellman Chat—basically ChatGPT, but upgraded to handle questions that were once deemed impossible. Although, let’s be real, these questions aren’t exactly rocket science; they’re just a bit sly, especially if you’re the type to forget things. For instance, you can hit up the chatbot to recall the last time your brother dropped by or get location suggestions for your next move, all based on the photos you toss its way.
The chatbot can also make educated guesses about your hobbies, interests, travel plans, shopping sprees, favorite websites, and more through the screenshots you snap. A Google spokesperson told CNBC that the company is just kicking tires for the time being. If they decide to roll it out, they promise to take their sweet time making sure it’s genuinely useful for people and, of course, keeping user privacy front and center.
Needless to say, brace yourself for the ultimate creep factor if Ellman sees the light of day. This AI is on a full-on deep dive into your files, scavenging for every bit of data it can get its virtual paws on. Nonetheless, there’s zero assurance that the AI will ever make a public debut.
