←back to thread

Chrome is adding `window.ai` – a Gemini Nano AI model right inside the browser

(twitter.com)
229 points modinfo | 4 comments | 30 Jun 24 01:56 UTC | HN request time: 0.417s | source
Show context
simonw ◴[30 Jun 24 06:52 UTC] No.40835549[source]▶
If this is the API that Google are going with here:

    const model = await window.ai.createTextSession();
    const result = await model.prompt("3 names for a pet pelican");
There's a VERY obvious flaw: is there really no way to specify the model to use?

Are we expecting that Gemini Nano will be the one true model, forever supported by this API baked into the world's most popular browser?

Given the rate at which models are improving that would be ludicrous. But... if the browser model is being invisibly upgraded, how are we supposed to test out prompts and expect them to continue working without modifications against whatever future versions of the bundled model show up?

Something like this would at least give us a fighting chance:

    const supportedModels = await window.ai.getSupportedModels();
    if (supportedModels.includes("gemini-nano:0.4")) {
        const model = await window.ai.createTextSession("gemini-nano:0.4");
        // ...
replies(7): >>40835678 #>>40835703 #>>40835717 #>>40835757 #>>40836197 #>>40836971 #>>40843533 #
1. j10u ◴[30 Jun 24 07:35 UTC] No.40835678[source]▶
I'm pretty sure that with time, they will be forced to let users choose the model. Just like it happened with the search engine...
replies(2): >>40835820 #>>40835903 #
2. LunaSea ◴[30 Jun 24 08:17 UTC] No.40835820[source]▶
Wouldn't this require Chrome to download models on the fly or pre-package multiple models?

That doesn't really seem possible (mobile data connection) or convenient (Chrome binary size, disk space) for the user.

replies(1): >>40837782 #
3. zelphirkalt ◴[30 Jun 24 08:42 UTC] No.40835903[source]▶
Only that it will take 5-10y to be regulated, until they will have to pay a measly fine, and let users choose. But then we will have the same game as with GDPR conformity now, companies left and right acting as if they just misunderstood the "new" rules and are still learning how this big mystery is to be understood, until a judge tells them to cut the crap. Then we will have the big masses, that will not care and feed all kinds of data into this AI thing, even without asking people it concerns for consent. Oh and then of course Google will claim, that it is all the bad users doing that, and that it is so difficult to monitor and prevent.
4. hysan ◴[30 Jun 24 15:36 UTC] No.40837782[source]▶
I don’t think you’d need to download on the fly. You can imagine models being installed like extensions where chrome comes with Gemini installed by default. Then have the API allow for falling back to the default (Gemini) or throwing an error when no model is available. I’d contend that this would be a better API design because the user can choose to remove all models to save space on devices where AI is not needed (ex: kiosk).