Key Takeaways From Google I/O 2021 Keynote

Google I/O 2021 keynote session led by Sundar Pichai (CEO) on May 18 revealed many product updates, innovation stories, technology roadmap, user experience innovations, AI & machine learning applicability, and many more. While this article summarizes key takeaways from Google I/O 2021 keynote, highly recommend listening to the keynote session by clicking here.

#1 Increased Focus on Collaboration & Remote Work

• With COVID-19 pandemic, Google shared its increased focus on collaboration solution – Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) and progression on this space.
• Launched Smart Canvas as part of Workspace with an all-in-one-place solution approach with collaboration tools like Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, and more.
• Integrated with MLcapabilities such as Live Captions, Live Interactions, etc.
• Google Workspace will soon be available to everyone. Click here to read about key features.

#2 – Search & AI As Core Capability

• Shared innovation and future roadmap of Search experience with contextual, personal, multi-lingual, and more intelligent Search using AI.
• BERT model to add context with Google search to understand queries. BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations) is a Transformer-based machine learning technique for natural language processing pre-training developed by Google (Transformer is A Novel Neural Network Architecture for Language Understanding launched by Google almost five years back).
• Announced LaMDA, a natural language platform that’s still in the research and development phase inside the company. It provides more human-like conversation powered by NLP and ML models.
• AI-powered Google Translation supporting multiple products with 100+ languages translation in real-time. Text-to-speech is already launched as a product to convert text into natural-sounding speech using an API powered by Google’s AI technologies.
• Other AI-driven enhancements shared are: Google Photos with enhanced image recognition, Google Meet with live captions, Google Lens can take a photo of a math problem and use ML to provide recommendations, Google Assitant ability to translate more languages as we speak are few examples.
• Google Search with multitasking unified model, built on transformer architecture, is 1000X more powerful than BERT.
• An example of increased focus on Tensorflow by sharing its evolution:
  

#3 – Quantum Computing is the Next Generation of Technology

• Quantum computing is in the early stage and Google shared its progression towards making it accessible to everybody. Click here to know more about Quantum Computing and AI.
• Shared key technology like Cirq, which is a Python software library for writing, manipulating, and optimizing quantum circuits, and Tensorflow Quantum – a library for hybrid quantum-classical machine learning.
• Google unveiled their new Quantum AI Data Center. Click here for more insights into the campus.

#4 – Privacy and Security is of Utmost Importance

• Google stressed further that Privacy and Security are one of the core pillars. Security by default and using AI-driven tech to detect vulnerabilities is foundational to most of Google products like Gmail, Google Photos, etc.
• Google uses Federated Learning to inform users on privacy issues.
• Auto-delete feature to remove data from Google Maps, Chrome, etc. to ensure user’s activity history and privacy concerns are taken care of.
• Android 12 refocuses on privacy with Private Compute Core and Privacy Dashboard as exemplified during the keynote
• Google Password Manager, in-built for Chrome, is an example of ensuring password security and protection to prevent weak or exposed passwords. Here is an example of an automated check & report by password manager:

#5 – User Experience Innovation & Android 12

• Since its launch of Material Design in 2014, its continuously evolving. Click here to explore concepts, principles, and colors.
• Material You is the new design language providing power to end-users for personalized design experience for mobile devices
• New UI with Android 12 with Material You applying color extraction, human-centered coloring system with inclusion & accessibility, intuitive notifications, etc.
• Google font library has been optimized with font families like Google Sans.

Finally, it is worth mentioning overall Google Product Catalog showcased during Google I/O.

Google Product Catalog

While there are many find-grained products, here is the summarized categories of Google products:

The Fun & Virtual Swag

Finally fun part of Google I/O with their interactive virtual game to interact with product teams and visitors:

Disclaimer:

All the image credits to Google website and Google I/O tech conference.
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