Google (GOOG) in recent months has shown off plans to transform itself from a search engine into a telepathic algorithm that can deliver you information you’ll need without even asking for it. Technology Review’s Tom Simonite reports that Google’s latest venture into this realm involves delivering users information that they never thought to ask about in the first place. Simonite, who personally took part in Google’s latest experiment, says that once a day he’d receive a text message from Google asking him what he wanted “to know recently” but never thought of typing into a search engine.
Among other things, Simonite asked Google how long current lines were at his local grocery store and whether Google could help him to cook a meal. While it’s unlikely that Google will be able to give you real-time tips on your technique for julienning tomatoes anytime soon, projects like this are certainly an interesting indication of what we can expect from the company over the next few years. That is, we should probably expect that Google will want to get a lot more involved in our daily lives.
