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Posts tagged "Testing"

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Google said to be testing new life coach AI for providing helpful advice to people
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For the past several months, Google has been consistently rolling out generative AI tech like the launch of the Search Engine Experience and giving Chrome the ability to summarize news articles. In the future, the tech giant may be taking artificial intelligence into a new frontier: offering life advice.

This information comes from a recently published New York Times article detailing the company’s next big AI project. DeepMind, Google’s own artificial intelligence research lab, has been testing new technology that could effectively turn generative AI “into a personal life coach”. They state that DeepMind is trying to find a way to have their model “perform at least 21 different types of personal and professional tasks”. As we already established, this includes giving people life advice, such as  “ideas, planning instructions, [plus] tutoring tips”. 

For example, you could conceivably ask the chatbot to drum up a workout or meal plan if you want to lose weight. Or maybe you could ask for suggestions related to specific situations like what to do if you can’t make a friend’s wedding.

Intimate knowledge

Technically, these described functions are already present on Google Bard, so this is nothing new. What’s different, according to the piece, is that the company is seeking to improve the AI’s ability to “answer intimate questions about challenges in people’s lives.” To make this whole thing possible, DeepMind apparently brought together “100 experts with doctorates in different fields… [to] assess the tool’s responses”. 

Presumably, this group includes mental health professionals. The problem is that the New York Times doesn't provide concrete details. We don’t have opinions from any of the experts on exactly how good Google’s life coach chatbot is at the moment. 

Still, the main takeaway is whatever the tech giant is cooking up, it appears to be pretty substantial.

An AI arms race

What’s particularly interesting about this life coach project is it flies in the face of company policy. Google’s Bard Privacy Help Hub recommends not to rely on the chatbot’s responses for “medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice.” 

So, why the about face? The New York Times theorizes this could be part of an effort to overcome rivals like OpenAI. As pointed out in the piece, corporations and start-ups have been engaging in an AI arms race ever since ChatGPT launched, vying for the top position in the industry. Google essentially creating a “robo-therapist” may be the edge it needs.

There is, however, a chance this tech will never see the light of day. A DeepMind spokeswoman told the Times that developers are indeed testing the AI, but evaluations are not indicative of a “product road map.”

We will say the idea of an AI that can help with creating robust workout plans or tutoring people in a skill does sound pretty helpful. Hopefully, a breakthrough will come from these experiments.

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Hidden change to Windows 11 Start menu uncovered in testing – and we like it
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Windows 11 is hopefully set to receive a useful tweak for the Start menu to help users identify which are the core apps for the operating system.

PhantomOfEarth flagged up the change, which is hidden in preview build 23493 and was uncovered using ViVeTool (a Windows configuration utility used for digging into the OS to find incoming features like this).

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So what’s the big idea here? Microsoft is labeling its default apps – the company’s own programs for Windows 11, that come preinstalled with the OS – so the user can clearly see which these are.

Previously, we were told that these were given a ‘Microsoft’ badge to indicate they are first-party apps for Windows 11, but now, that label has been changed to ‘System’, meaning stock apps that come with the system.

These are apps such as Settings, Tips, Windows Security, Xbox Game Bar, Calculator, and so forth.

Analysis: A handy touch for the less tech-savvy

You’ll quite possibly never use some of those apps, but still, it could be useful to have an indication of which apps in the Start menu are first-party efforts Microsoft includes with a Windows 11 installation by default.

People who are familiar with Windows will no doubt in many cases recognize Microsoft’s own bits of software anyway, having used them through the years. But for those newer to the world of computers and Windows 11 novices, it’s handy to have this label, so they know what’s what in the list of apps on the Start menu.

It’s worth noting that this feature is still in the very early stages – hence why it isn’t enabled in the preview build yet – and some system apps aren’t labeled as such (when they should be). That will, of course, change, assuming this tweak makes the cut for inclusion in testing (which seems likely).

Another hidden feature recently discovered in build 23493 is Microsoft’s continued work on snap layouts, making this unloved part of the UI easier and more intuitive to use, which should attract more Windows 11 users to have a dabble with it (or that’s doubtless the idea).

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YouTube is testing a cool new premium feature on Windows 11… but you’ll have to pay to try it
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It looks like Google is testing a new YouTube 1080p premium tier for a better viewing experience on Windows 11. The feature is designed to increase the quality of high-definition videos and, up until this point, it was only available to mobile users on a paid premium tier.

Windows Latest first noticed the new ‘1080p Premium’ option when watching videos in Microsoft Edge or in Chrome using a Windows 11 device. When Mayank Parmar from Windows Latest clicked on the new option, a pop-up appeared that asked him to subscribe to YouTube Premium, which he was already subscribed to.

According to support staff working at YouTube, the company tested the feature with select users last month and has made an effort to expand this feature to Android phones and TVs. The option is currently only available for videos up to 1080p and no higher. In a screenshot from Windows Latest, you can see the ‘1080p Premium Enhanced Bitrate’ option for a music video that only goes up to 1080p, but not for 4K videos.

Google confirmed the enhanced 1080p playback on mobile devices in April, and it seems the company is making a push to bring the feature to desktop platforms.

What’s the difference?

It may sound like an exciting new tier of premium viewing, but there isn’t much to get excited about. 1080p may not be super high-end quality, especially if the bitrate is low. A lower bitrate will tank the quality of even 4K video.

Some users have noted that Google has reduced the quality of 1080p YouTube videos which possibly helps save bandwidth costs. The proposed feature would unlock a higher bitrate for 1080p with a monthly subscription, which kind of sucks. 

We have a lot of subscriptions already, and for Google to purpose hiding better quality 1080p videos behind a paywall isn't exactly consumer friendly and feels like another expense for absolutely no reason. Obviously, if you’re already subscribed to YouTube Premium it doesn’t make a difference to you, but if you aren’t and don’t want to add on another subscription this could be pretty annoying. 

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Windows 11 is testing ads in the worst place possible
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Windows 11 is now showing adverts in File Explorer, which is an alarming development – though it’s nothing we haven’t seen before (more on that later) – albeit this is still in limited testing currently.

Bleeping Computer reported on the presence of an advert in the most recent preview build of Windows 11, as spotted by Microsoft MVP Florian and posted on Twitter.

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As you can see in the tweet, the advert for the company’s own product – Microsoft Editor – appears as a strip along the top of an open folder window, just above where the contents of the folder are displayed.

The promotional snippet reads: “Write with confidence across documents, email, and the web with advanced writing suggestions from Microsoft Editor.” There’s also a button you can click to ‘Learn More’ about Editor, an AI-driven service that aims to brush up your writing style, grammar and spelling.

Note that these ads are just in testing, and Bleeping Computer could not find any adverts in File Explorer when it went hunting for them, indicating that Microsoft has likely rolled this out to a very limited amount of Windows 11 testers to begin with. It’s not surprising to see a tentative approach with this one, of course.

Analysis: Are we really looking down this road again?

Many folks are unhappy to see this, which again is unsurprising, but we should make it clear upfront that as noted, this is just in limited testing right now. The caution around this is something of a positive sign, at least, and going by the negative feedback which is already airing on Twitter (and elsewhere), Microsoft may well give this ‘feature’ the chop before it makes the release version of Windows 11.

Let’s hope so, because those of you with longer memories may recall that Microsoft has been down this road before, and it didn’t stick with File Explorer ads in that case. This was back in early 2017 when we witnessed ads for OneDrive pop up in Windows 10 with the same positioning in folders, although in that case, the adverts were even larger and more annoying.

While this is just a thin strip of an ad this time around, it’s still an unwelcome intrusion mainly because File Explorer is such a central element of the Windows interface. These are the very folders you’re working with on a daily basis (no doubt) on your desktop, and real estate is valuable in this window, so the last thing you want is an advert intruding on the fundamental experience of opening or copying files within Windows 11.

For us, this is about the worst way to deploy adverts in Windows – the most intrusive way to clutter up interface space with promotional activity. Not that anywhere is a particularly good place, of course, and really an operating system should be free of ads full-stop.

With the repeated attempts at this venture, it’s clear this is something Microsoft would like to get away with, but hopefully, the software giant will get the message which is being sent pretty loud and clear online right now, and abandon the idea of File Explorer adverts (again). We suspect Microsoft well knows the truth of what the broad reaction will be anyway, but then we do wonder why it’s even dipping a toe in these waters again, given that.

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Instagram is testing vertical Stories that work a lot like TikTok
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After confirming that vertical scrolling for Stories was in development back in 2021, Instagram is starting to test the feature in select countries.

Instagram Stories is the company’s take on tapping through short stories that can last up to ten seconds, both in a photo or a video. You can add in a GIF, tag someone, add filters, and more to update your followers on what you’re doing at that moment in time.

But when you decide to go to the next or previous story, you have to tap on the left or right in certain areas of the story in order to do these actions. This could be problematic as some tags placed in a story may overlap, so you may skip a story when you wanted to tap on the tagged person or place in question.

Navigating through your Stories by swiping will alleviate this, and while there’s a good chance that its similarity to TikTok will be mentioned, it’s a much better method for everyone, especially if you primarily use Stories on Instagram.

Analysis: This will matter to heavy Stories users

While recent updates, such as the ability to post from a web browser or switching to a dark mode theme have been well-received, vertical scrolling will mean a great deal more to other users.

The company has been rolling out features to better rival TikTok in video content, such as Reels and the ability to add web links to a Story.

However, since Instagram confirmed that vertical scrolling was under development, users had been waiting to see if it would be implemented. One year on, we get confirmation that it’s at least being tested in countries such as Turkey.

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As smartphones get bigger or, foldable, having to tap on the left side of the screen to go back to a story is going to be more frustrating for users.

Swiping up or down to navigate your Stories is a much more appealing method. It’s TikTok’s main way of browsing videos in its app, and it would be a welcome change to Instagram Stories.

With a chronological feed due out soon, swiping in a Story could be the next big feature for 2022.

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