Google Working on AI Writing Tool for ChromeOS which can roll out in September 2023

At Google I/O in May 2023, Google announced that its products and services will be benefited from artificial intelligence over time. Some of the AI features have been ruled out in Gmail, Docs, Slides, and more, Google may be working on bringing the AI writing and editing feature to Chromebooks specifically. Let's take a technical look at this topic.

According to 9to5mac, Google has been working on a project that has more than five codenames associated with it, the main three being “Orca, ” “Mako, ” and “Manta. ”

The report claimed that “Orca ” will primarily appear in ChromeOS right-click menu but only when editing the body of text.

The report pointed out that 'When selected, Orca will open the “Mako ” (Codename for a Google project) UI in a “bubble ” over your screen'

What does 'Mako' do?

Citing a code, the report noted that 'Mako' has three core tasks:

• “Request rewrites ” for a particular piece of text
• “Preset text queries ” a list of text suggestions.
• “Insert ” the rewritten text in the original text body.

According to the report, this AI rewriting process doesnt happen locally on the PC, as per the report “Manta ” apparently sends users' original text to the Google servers, which return back the AI-enhanced version.

It is also noted that users must agree to a consent policy before activating the service.

Furthermore, by being directly incorporated into ChromeOS, generative AI(not the actual name of the feature, just for reference in this blog) will be available to improve text written in almost any app not just ChromeOS. There is no clarity on when the feature will launch, but it may roll out with ChromeOS version 118, scheduled for mid-October.