7 ms·

Much of this strikes me as a "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" issue. Google clearly loves machine learning and doing cool things but I think lat

by Zelphyr 11y ago

Much of this strikes me as a "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" issue. Google clearly loves machine learning and doing cool things but I think lately they've been taking it too far. For example; after purchasing a book on Amazon recently I happened to do a Google search on that book and the first thing I see is, "Your book is scheduled to be delivered on..." Aside from the creepy factor I'm left wondering what purpose this serves? I just ordered the book. I KNOW it's on its way. Turns out they just mined my emails from Gmail to provide it in search results. I'm sure some developer or product manager thought it would be a cool thing to do without giving any consideration to usefulness much less user privacy. I really don't feel like Google needs to know what I'm buying thankyouverymuch. Gmail account: closed.

thrownaway2424 11y ago
Order status and package tracking are extremely popular features of Google Now.
leephillips 11y ago
I understand why it might seem creepy, at least until you get used to it. But surely you knew that Google's computers were already reading all mail sent to your gmail account. They filter and check for malware and spam based partly on content, and even serve related advertising in the gmail interface (do they still do this?).
DaveWalk 11y ago
> a "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" issue To me, this phrase is the essence of much of Google's features. To my discredit, I chuckled when I read the blog's phrase "we've used...deep neural networks to improve...YouTube thumbnails." I am certain this was no easy task, and a resulting technical breakthrough. But doesn't it sound kind of petty? Of course, what's petty for one is essential for another. I wish every e-mail client had that "undo send" feature, which was just GMail whimsy years ago. Is the line between petty and essential always going to be blurred?
- jsolson 11y ago
  Improving YouTube thumbnails can be a huge usability win Consider a series of lectures or DIY videos with a common setting. Pulling out a frame that captures something unique about the video (be it the DIY item being worked on in close-up or an important theorem on a title slide or blackboard) makes it easier for users to separate content and find specific items.
- strong_ai 11y ago
  Thumbnails drive engagement -- doesn't seem petty to me.
- roel_v 11y ago
  Then what isn't 'petty'? It's not like it's zero-sum, there are also people working on using AI for recognizing cancer cells on medical imaging, or to manage climate change risk. And if we don't try, we'll never know what is 'petty' and what is useful. And also, we can learn a lot from the 'exercise' we get in developing small-scale applications of machine learning, which can then be applied later to more 'worthy' applications.
nl 11y ago
I love this feature.
roninb 11y ago
That's cool that you feel that way, but I really enjoy these features. I'm never home and never sitting down so being able to see everything that I need to pay attention to the things I can't remember is amazing. Google Now reminding me of meetings, flight times, hotel check out times, package deliveries, etc, are things a personal assistant would do but without the associated cost of a yuppie's salary. Just because you don't see it as convenient or even useful doesn't mean no one else does.
morgosmaci 11y ago
On http://myaccount.google.com http://myaccount.google.com you can go into search settings and turn off "Private Results" and it will not return GMail search results. Edit: It is under Your personal info -> Search settings -> Manage settings
- alttab 11y ago
  I imagine this could be useful for live demos.
TeMPOraL 11y ago
> Aside from the creepy factor (...) One man's "creepy factor" is another's superbly useful feature. The feeling of creepiness probably stems from being surprised and defaulting to negative reaction. Remember that GMail was never supposed to be a dumb mailbox. If you want a dumb mailbox, there are tons of alternatives (i.e. almost every other provider and various open-source UI packages). Honestly, I really enjoy those "creepy" features and want much more. For me, they can, and definitely should.
- alttab 11y ago
  And please - like Google cares that you ordered that book from Amazon. Until they do. Abuses of this technology are inevitable, but we haven't seen it yet. It's the source of magical "how did they do that" wow factor in technology that touch screens and thin devices used to have.
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    Maybe I'm weird, but for me none of this (touchscreens too) is "magical", and all of this is "interesting" and then "obvious" when I learn/figure out how they do it. Maybe that's why some people are afraid - because it's more magic to them? > And please - like Google cares that you ordered that book from Amazon. Until they do. Well, if Google starts caring that I ordered a book from Amazon (more than they already do - Google Now shows me info on my purchases, including delivery time), then they'll do what exactly? Tell their self-driving cars to kill me because I didn't use Google Play? Google so far has a stellar history of being helpful, pro-user, quite often pro-bono at it. Please apply these levels of scrutiny to someone else first, like every other SV startup running on the investor-storytime model.
    - eloisant 11y ago
      I don't think the risk is Google harming you for the books you bought, but disclosing the information to a government who may. For example, a government (China?) may pass a law to force Google to disclose the list of nationals who bought certain books (political book criticising the Chinese government?), and Google may choose to comply to stay in that market.

by Zelphyr 11y ago

thrownaway2424 11y ago

Order status and package tracking are extremely popular features of Google Now.

leephillips 11y ago

I understand why it might seem creepy, at least until you get used to it. But surely you knew that Google's computers were already reading all mail sent to your gmail account. They filter and check for malware and spam based partly on content, and even serve related advertising in the gmail interface (do they still do this?).

DaveWalk 11y ago

> a "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" issue To me, this phrase is the essence of much of Google's features. To my discredit, I chuckled when I read the blog's phrase "we've used...deep neural networks to improve...YouTube thumbnails." I am certain this was no easy task, and a resulting technical breakthrough. But doesn't it sound kind of petty? Of course, what's petty for one is essential for another. I wish every e-mail client had that "undo send" feature, which was just GMail whimsy years ago. Is the line between petty and essential always going to be blurred?

jsolson 11y ago
Improving YouTube thumbnails can be a huge usability win Consider a series of lectures or DIY videos with a common setting. Pulling out a frame that captures something unique about the video (be it the DIY item being worked on in close-up or an important theorem on a title slide or blackboard) makes it easier for users to separate content and find specific items.
strong_ai 11y ago
Thumbnails drive engagement -- doesn't seem petty to me.
roel_v 11y ago
Then what isn't 'petty'? It's not like it's zero-sum, there are also people working on using AI for recognizing cancer cells on medical imaging, or to manage climate change risk. And if we don't try, we'll never know what is 'petty' and what is useful. And also, we can learn a lot from the 'exercise' we get in developing small-scale applications of machine learning, which can then be applied later to more 'worthy' applications.

nl 11y ago

I love this feature.

roninb 11y ago

That's cool that you feel that way, but I really enjoy these features. I'm never home and never sitting down so being able to see everything that I need to pay attention to the things I can't remember is amazing. Google Now reminding me of meetings, flight times, hotel check out times, package deliveries, etc, are things a personal assistant would do but without the associated cost of a yuppie's salary. Just because you don't see it as convenient or even useful doesn't mean no one else does.

morgosmaci 11y ago

On http://myaccount.google.com http://myaccount.google.com you can go into search settings and turn off "Private Results" and it will not return GMail search results. Edit: It is under Your personal info -> Search settings -> Manage settings

alttab 11y ago
I imagine this could be useful for live demos.

TeMPOraL 11y ago

> Aside from the creepy factor (...) One man's "creepy factor" is another's superbly useful feature. The feeling of creepiness probably stems from being surprised and defaulting to negative reaction. Remember that GMail was never supposed to be a dumb mailbox. If you want a dumb mailbox, there are tons of alternatives (i.e. almost every other provider and various open-source UI packages). Honestly, I really enjoy those "creepy" features and want much more. For me, they can, and definitely should.

alttab 11y ago
And please - like Google cares that you ordered that book from Amazon. Until they do. Abuses of this technology are inevitable, but we haven't seen it yet. It's the source of magical "how did they do that" wow factor in technology that touch screens and thin devices used to have.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  Maybe I'm weird, but for me none of this (touchscreens too) is "magical", and all of this is "interesting" and then "obvious" when I learn/figure out how they do it. Maybe that's why some people are afraid - because it's more magic to them? > And please - like Google cares that you ordered that book from Amazon. Until they do. Well, if Google starts caring that I ordered a book from Amazon (more than they already do - Google Now shows me info on my purchases, including delivery time), then they'll do what exactly? Tell their self-driving cars to kill me because I didn't use Google Play? Google so far has a stellar history of being helpful, pro-user, quite often pro-bono at it. Please apply these levels of scrutiny to someone else first, like every other SV startup running on the investor-storytime model.
  - eloisant 11y ago
    I don't think the risk is Google harming you for the books you bought, but disclosing the information to a government who may. For example, a government (China?) may pass a law to force Google to disclose the list of nationals who bought certain books (political book criticising the Chinese government?), and Google may choose to comply to stay in that market.