Google DeepMind's new Project Genie AI tool is something a little different. Instead of answering chatbot prompts more (or even less) effectively than the last model, this one lets you craft an entire 3D world to explore with just a short text prompt.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-project-genie-ai-tool-build-virtual-worlds-for-training-fun?test_uuid=04IpBmWGZleS0I0J3epvMrC&test_variant=A
Apple lays out a vision that suggests the productivity suite of the future is the one that focuses on the needs of creators — whether that’s filmmakers, musicians, artists, or anyone else enmeshed in a creative industry of some kind — and empowers them to be more efficient using AI. Apple sees AI as a tool that handles more of the basics and tedious tasks — like generating a slideshow for you to edit from your notes, extracting chord information from a song, searching across hours of video footage for the clip you need, changing the camera angle on your images, and more.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/28/with-apples-new-creator-studio-pro-ai-is-a-tool-to-aid-creation-not-replace-it/
“Specs are launching at an important time, as artificial intelligence transforms the way that we use our computers,” Snap says. “Instead of an operating system that expects us to do all of the work, Specs feature a first-of-its-kind Intelligence System that uses its understanding of you and your world to help get things done on your behalf while protecting and respecting your privacy.”
https://www.theverge.com/news/869210/snap-specs-smart-ar-glasses-new-subsidiary
Adobe has added new generative AI features to Acrobat that aim to help you quickly edit PDFs and summarize them in audio and visual formats. These updates include chat-based editing and the ability to generate personalized podcasts and presentations based on your docs, which are now available in Acrobat Studio — the AI-infused document workspace app that’s distinct from Adobe’s basic PDF reader.
https://www.theverge.com/news/864811/adobe-acrobat-studio-generate-podcast-presentation
Artificial intelligence is saving workers time, but a large share of those gains is being erased by the effort required to fix AI-generated mistakes, according to a new study. “For every 10 hours of efficiency gained through AI, nearly four hours are lost to fixing its output,” the report said. As a result, “productivity gains alone are not translating into better outcomes for most organizations,” it said.
https://qz.com/ai-mistakes-limit-time-savings-workday-finds
The music distribution platform Bandcamp announced in a Reddit post on Tuesday that it’s banning AI-generated music and audio. “We want musicians to keep making music, and for fans to have confidence that the music they find on Bandcamp was created by humans,” the company said. Bandcamp’s new guidelines state that music and audio generated “wholly or in substantial part by AI” is not permitted, and that it will not allow the use of AI tools to impersonate other artists or styles.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/14/bandcamp-takes-a-stand-against-ai-music-banning-it-from-the-platform/
As of this morning, the AI overviews for questions like “what is the normal range for liver blood tests?” have been disabled entirely. Spokesperson Davis Thompson told The Verge that, “We invest significantly in the quality of AI Overviews, particularly for topics like health, and the vast majority provide accurate information. Our internal team of clinicians reviewed what’s been shared with us and found that in many instances, the information was not inaccurate and was also supported by high-quality websites. In cases where AI Overviews miss some context, we work to make broad improvements, and we also take action under our policies where appropriate.”
https://www.theverge.com/news/860356/google-pulls-alarming-dangerous-medical-ai-overviews