Artificial intelligence (AI) is at the forefront of everyone’s mind lately. While this technology has been in progress for many years, it seems like it exploded after the pandemic and now all tech companies are coming out with their versions of AI models that can improve or simplify our lives, and Amazon is no exception.
Even though it has grown leaps and bounds, AI is still fairly limited in what it can do and it is easy to spot in images and texts if you know what you are looking for, but that does not mean that it cannot be a tool to be used, and Amazon is taking a leap by creating a new AI model that can take actions in a web browser on a user’s behalf.
The new Amazon AI that can revolutionize the industry
Called Nova Act, this new piece of Amazon technology has been designed to assist developers in creating AI agents capable of handling complex tasks independently. For example, one of the demonstrated use cases involved finding apartments within biking distance of a train station.
As interest in AI expands beyond text and image generation, more companies are focusing on developing autonomous agents that can perform multi-step operations without human oversight, and Amazon is not the only company that has succeeded in the task.
OpenAI was the leading company in AI development for a long time, in January they released a feature called Operator that will automate tasks such as planning vacations, filling out forms, making restaurant reservations and ordering groceries. Backed by Microsoft, the company described the new technology as “an agent that can go to the web to perform tasks for you.”
There is only one little problem Amazon got there first. Or at least they released the technology first, as Anthropic, an AI startup supported by Amazon and founded by former OpenAI researchers, introduced its Computer Use tool in October. This technology enables AI to interact with a computer screen, click buttons, input text, browse websites, and perform tasks within various software applications while accessing real-time internet data. Eerily similar to the OpenAI tool.
But unlike Amazon, OpenAI has continued to release updates on the product, with one coming right after in October called Deep Research, which is a tool that permits an AI agent to compile complex research reports and analyze questions and topics of the user’s choice.
Another company that has thrown their name into a mix is none other than Google. Not one to be outdone, they also launched a similar tool last December, which acts as a “research assistant, exploring complex topics and compiling reports on your behalf.”
With so many alternatives, who comes out on top will depend on funding, development and how users like the interface, as many AI technologies have the same problems, difficulty with following instructions.
This might be the reason why Nova Act is initially launching in research preview for developers and is also launching a website that lets users experiment with its Nova AI models. This will give Amazon the time to get their ducks in a row and any remaining kinks worked out before it hits the open market and they have to cater to the average user, which will exercise a lot less patience and will have a lot more issues to give the correct instructions.
But Nova Act is not the only piece of new tech that Amazon has in the pipeline, the company is ramping up its investment in generative AI, rolling out a series of new technologies, including, Trainium chips, AI-driven shopping and health assistants, and Bedrock, a marketplace for third-party AI models. The company is also upgrading Alexa with advanced AI capabilities, more than a decade after its initial launch.