Google is hard at work developing AI-powered features for Android devices, and a new summarization tool for Files could be added to that list.
Researchers at Android Authority and 9to5Google have looked into the code for the upcoming beta release and discovered a feature that provides AI summaries for documents stored in Google's Files app. At this point, the feature may be discontinued or held back until a later release, but both outlets have found that AI summaries for Files are in active development.
Related article: Five new AI features announced for the Pixel 9 series, Pixel 9 Pro Fold, and Pixel Watch 3
Google has harnessed the power of generative AI to adopt an AI Summarization feature that crawls and summarizes large amounts of text in Search. Called AI Outline, the feature initially suffered from inaccuracies and illusions, some of which were due to the quality of the information it gleaned from the web. But performing the summarization task on user-created files that appear to be trustworthy could yield much greater results.
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A quick look at the code reveals that Google's AI model searches through text files and provides a brief description of each file's contents, allowing users looking for a specific document to quickly read a summary of it rather than having to open it.
The feature is believed to be supported in Gemini Nano, the smallest and lightest version of Gemini, meaning the functionality will be processed on-device rather than in the cloud. Evidence in the code also suggests the feature can be turned on/off in settings.
If you're feeling AI fatigue… don't expect it to go away anytime soon. The newly released Google Pixel 9 “officially has too much AI,” Mashable's Alex Perry wrote in his review. “Google is pushing these features hard, touting them as big selling points for the Pixel 9 family, but none of them are actually transformative or innovative in any meaningful way.”
That said, Perry found some features, like the ability to search screenshots, to be really useful. Files' AI summary might fall into the “under the hood but really useful” category. But we'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
Topics Artificial Intelligence Google
