Like most tech companies today, Google is investing heavily in everything related to Artificial Intelligence (AI). The company is not only pushing its own generative AI products but also using this technology to increase productivity. According to CEO Sundar Pichai, AI is being used to write approximately 25% of new source code at Google.
In the company’s Q3 2024 earnings call, Pichai stated that Google is “using internal AI to improve our coding processes, thereby increasing productivity and efficiency,” adding that more than a quarter of all new source code at Google is generated by AI.
Such statements raise questions about AI replacing human jobs, the errors it may cause, and potential copyright issues, but Pichai noted that all generated source code is reviewed and accepted by engineers. The Google chief added that this helps engineers accomplish more and progress faster.
AI-generated and AI-assisted code does not have a stellar reputation. A 2022 study indicated that when programmers have access to AI code generators, their output tends to be more error-prone or insecure compared to “manual” solutions. In April 2023, another study involving 517 software programming questions showed that it answered more than half of those questions incorrectly.
Generative AI is constantly improving, but even if it makes fewer mistakes now, a study from earlier this month concluded that using AI programming assistants does not increase productivity or prevent burnout. Although Pichai mentioned that engineers still check and review AI-generated source code, it is easy to imagine that its use could lead to negative impacts on certain job positions. This is even more concerning as Anat Ashkenazi, Alphabet’s new CFO, stated that one of her top priorities at the company will be cost optimization.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, laid off 12,000 employees—equivalent to 6% of its total global workforce—last year and is continuing to cut more staff in 2024. Ashkenazi, who worked at Eli Lilly for 23 years, praised the cost-saving measures the company has implemented but stated that “any organization can always strive for more,” and she will “look for further opportunities.”
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Google is developing an AI assistant named Jarvis, which has the capability to control a user’s computer. Jarvis is designed to automate daily web tasks by taking screenshots, interpreting information, and then clicking buttons or typing text.
According to Techspot
