Google Bets On Reshuffling Its Workforce To Supercharge AI Strategies

Google has dropped a bomb of a news!

To unleash the potential of its Artificial Intelligence capabilities, Google is reorganizing its Google Assistant team by laying off employees. Wait, what?

Let's not waste any more time and get down to the meat of the story.

Google's most big reorganization of the Assistant team aims to "supercharge" the seven-year-old smart assistant by incorporating the latest developments in generative artificial intelligence.

Peeyush Ranjan, Google's VP of engineering at Assistant, emailed staff members to inform them of impending layoffs as part of a reorganization. According to Ranjan, Google plans to integrate large language model (LLM) technology into Assistant, to challenge the company's rivals Siri and Alexa voice assistants.

Ranjan wrote in an email, "As a team, we need to focus on delivering high quality, critical product experiences for our users." Also, "we've seen the profound potential of generative AI to transform people's lives and see a huge opportunity to explore what a supercharged Assistant, powered by the LLM technology, would look like."

Ranjan further mentioned that some of the Assistant team has begun working on the initiatives. Those who are being let go at Google will have 60 days to look for work elsewhere in the company.
 
In light of this major shift at Google, what might we anticipate?
 

In What Ways Will Things Shift?

The reorganization included announcing a dozen new positions within the company's "Speech" unit, which is responsible for voice commands. Former Speech Department head Francoise Beaufays is now reporting to Sissie Hsiao, who is responsible for the Bard and Assistant departments.

Beaufays stated in a second email detailing the unit's restructuring, "This is an exciting moment for AI, with nearly every product demanding world-class AI-driven Speech." She said that some of the Speech group will be devoting more time and energy to Bard.

Executives in charge of the division claimed the alterations will help it operate with greater "speed and focus."
 

What Are The Benefits Of AI Assistants?

In a statement to CNBC, Google spokeswoman Jennifer Rodstrom said the firm is "excited to explore how LLMs can help us supercharge Assistant and make it even better."

She stated, "Hundreds of millions of people use the Assistant every month, and we're committed to giving them high quality experiences."

Google is under pressure to include generative AI into as many of its products as possible due to its rapid progress, which provides clever and creative replies to text-based searches and can transform words to graphics.
 

What Is The Next Phase?

Amazon has included generative AI to its Alexa devices since the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT at the end of last year, highlighting the field's growing prominence.

As ChatGPT and Microsoft Bing, which holds a stake in OpenAI, have offered users new methods to look for information online, Google, which has dominated internet search for the better part of two decades, wants to retain its dominance.

After making Bard available to the public in March, Google has been steadily updating it since then. In a statement released last month, the business announced that its newest LLM, Palm 2, now supports 40 languages across more nations and will have capabilities including voice answers.
 
Will Google's plan to reorganise its Assistant team, even letting go of certain employees, "supercharge" its artificial intelligence strategy?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!