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Black Thursday

Rostrum The ancient narrow pathway had become so bad that they could not find their way to their destination as the three moved in a grey Honda Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) being piloted by Dayo who was very mindful of the steering. It was on a Thursday. The 35-year-old Misters Dayo, Emeka and Okon were old time friends who reunited just a few days ago at Nsukka in Enugu State having lost contacts about eight years back, or thereabouts, after their graduation from one of the reputable higher citadels of learning in Nigeria situated in the Eastern part of the country, precisely University of Nigeria Nsukka popularly known by its acronym ‘U.N.N’. What occasioned the long-awaited reunion was the convention of their alma-mater’s alumni body themed ‘The homecoming of UNN Alumni’, which usually held once in a blue moon. Though they never studied in the same department, they were conspicuously best of friends during their school days that people within bega...

Google Commences Germini 2.0 Flash Experimentation

 



The Tech giant, Google has announced the launch of Gemini 2.0 Flash and its associated research prototype. It is believes that this is a step forward in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the new model is designed for developers and showcases several experimental agent-based applications.


Building upon the success of its predecessor, 1.5 Flash, Gemini 2.0 Flash offers enhanced performance with similarly rapid response times. Notably, it outperforms 1.5 Pro on key benchmarks while operating at twice the speed.


Beyond speed improvements, 2.0 Flash introduces new capabilities, including support for multimodal inputs like images, video, and audio, as well as multimodal outputs such as generated images and multilingual text-to-speech audio. It also integrates with external tools like Google Search and code execution environments.


This model is currently available to developers in an experimental phase through the Gemini API in Google AI Studio and Vertex AI, with broader availability planned for January.


Beyond the core model improvements, the announcement highlights the development of AI agents. These agents represent a new approach to interacting with technology, focusing on task completion and proactive assistance. Several research prototypes demonstrate this concept, such as:


  • Project Astra: This project explores the concept of a universal AI assistant capable of understanding multiple languages, utilizing tools like Google Search and Maps, and maintaining context over longer conversations. It has seen improvements in dialogue, tool use, memory, and latency.

  • Project Mariner: This prototype focuses on browser-based agent interaction. It aims to understand and interact with web content, including text, images, and code.

  • Jules: This is an AI-powered code agent designed to assist developers within a GitHub workflow. It can analyze issues, develop plans, and execute code under developer supervision.


  • Gaming Agents: These agents are designed to interact with video games, offering real-time suggestions and utilizing Google Search for game-related information.

  •  There’s also exploration of Gemini 2.0’s spatial reasoning for robotics applications.

A strong emphasis is placed on responsible AI development. The development team is actively addressing safety and security concerns through various measures, including internal reviews, red teaming, safety training, and collaboration with external experts. Specific examples include mitigations against unintentional data sharing in Project Astra and protection against prompt injection in Project Mariner.



The release of Gemini 2.0 Flash and the associated agent prototypes marks an important advancement in AI. The focus on performance, multimodality, and agent-based interaction, combined with a commitment to responsible development, positions Gemini as a key player in the ongoing AI evolution.