Google’s new AI note-taker does not want the cloud
The software of AI within the productiveness house, particularly note-taking, has been rising quickly. We’ve seen newer instruments like Granola and Fathom achieve recognition, whereas established platforms like Notion have additionally built-in AI, serving to customers generate transcripts and notes from hours-long conferences. It seems to be like Google can be experimenting within the house however with a twist—a instrument known as Google AI Edge Foresight that runs locally on your Mac leveraging Apple Silicon. The firm is experimenting with Foresight by means of Google AI Edge wing, a group of applied sciences and instruments designed to run AI fashions regionally on units.
What is Google AI Edge Foresight?
Local AI assembly app powered by on-device Gemma fashions
It is an AI assembly companion app that processes your assembly information regionally in your Mac and does not require the web for its perform. Unlike many AI assembly companion apps that rely closely on cloud fashions, Foresight makes use of Google’s EmbeddingGemma 2 and Gemma 4 fashions for on-device AI.
EmbeddingGemma 2 is a 740M-parameter multimodal embedding mannequin able to processing textual content, picture, video, and audio. Thanks to this on-device processing, you possibly can interpret and analyze your conferences even in areas with poor web connectivity or on flights while you wish to work in your assembly notes.
Record and retailer conferences utterly offline
Keep your transcripts non-public and generate shorthand notes even when you do not have web entry
Foresight presents you a two-sided window—the left facet is for taking rough shorthand notes, whereas the fitting facet shows a real-time transcript captured by means of your Mac’s microphone and system audio. The software program works with conferences throughout platforms akin to Google Meet and Zoom, in addition to offline conversations.
In addition to real-time transcription, it additionally remembers context and essential particulars of the assembly, so you possibly can come again later. It builds a information graph round your conferences, private shorthand notes, and different information you add to the information supply.
Lets you construct information sources related to your conferences
Upload related PDFs, paperwork, and internet bookmarks earlier than conferences
By using the Knowledge Source characteristic, you possibly can add PDFs, Google Docs, Microsoft Office codecs, plain textual content, Markdown, and internet bookmarks which are related to your work and level the AI in the fitting route earlier than you start a gathering. Once your information sources are constructed, you possibly can leverage them shortly throughout conferences.
There’s a devoted Ask window the place you possibly can chat and get fast responses. Another fascinating characteristic is Live Assistance, which might hearken to the assembly and mechanically reply questions as they arrive up. Google’s product web page did not elaborate on this characteristic a lot, however it’s a nifty characteristic, and one I’d personally be all in favour of making an attempt.
Availability
Google AI Edge Foresight for macOS is available to download for Macs with Apple Silicon. Google hasn’t offered particular storage or reminiscence necessities on its product web page, though it describes Foresight as having a light-weight footprint and low battery drain. Currently, the rollout of Foresight appears to be an experiment by Google, and if it succeeds, we are able to anticipate a Windows model quickly.
