Google Just Launched a Smartphone Game to Teach Adults How to Code

Posted on June 15th, 2018

From programmable LEGO robots to mobile apps like Hopscotch, there’s no shortage of games and toys designed to get children interested in computer science. But when it comes to adults, the options to learn how to code start to look a lot less like fun and a lot more like classwork.

Over the past nine months, Google has been trying to change that through Grasshopper, a mobile game meant to teach adults the basic principles of coding. Although five thousand people have already graduated from Grasshopper’s JavaScript Fundamentals course while the app has been in testing, the search giant is revealing it and making it publicly available for the first time on Wednesday. The game is launching for iOS and Android out of Area 120, Google’s internal workshop for experimental projects.

When developing Grasshopper, Google focused on three main barriers making it hard for adults to learn to code: Time, access, and money. The first point is particularly vital — when Google asked thousands of U.S. adults why they had given up on coding, the top answer was that they ran out of time, says Laura Holmes, founder of Grasshopper and a senior product manager at Google. Turning coding lessons into something more like a smartphone game makes them easier to fit into a busy schedule, she says. “Many of our users actually find spare moments when they’re sitting on the couch unwinding after work or in bed at night,” says Holmes. “They’re using those moments to learn how to code.”

Most people interested in learning how to code are hoping to do so to further their career, says Holmes, citing a survey of current Grasshopper users. It’s not difficult to understand why: LinkedIn’s list of the top job skills for 2018 was filled with abilities like mobile development, cloud computing, and data engineering, and in 2017, PayScale and CNN listed “mobile app developer” as the best job in America.

Google’s puzzle game won’t turn you into a programming wiz overnight. But by introducing players to the basic fundamentals through JavaScript, it may help them decide whether coding is a viable career switch for them. That’s why Google is also partnering with Coursera and LaunchCode to help players who want to continue pursuing computer science after completing the game discover appropriate courses and programs. The suggested classes should feel like a natural next step after finishing Grasshopper’s curriculum, according to Holmes. “We say, ‘Here’s the next one that fits well with what we’ve taught you,’” she says.

The Grasshopper app itself looks simple and self-explanatory. When setting up the app, users will be able to choose how often they want to practice coding; Grasshopper suggests playing daily, but offers other options like every other day, twice per week, or no reminders at all. Like many games designed to teach coding, the puzzles themselves involve inputting lines of code to reach a goal. In the demonstration I saw, the player was asked to enter the correct code in order to complete an image of the French flag, with each string of code contributing more color to the picture. Grasshopper also quizzes students occasionally to make sure they’re comprehending the principles being taught in lessons. A friendly grasshopper named Grace — named after computer industry pioneer Grace Hopper — encourages players along the way.

Of course, Google is far from the first company to game-ify code lessons, nor is it the first to make such programs available on smartphones. Apps like Hopscotch and Lightbot may be positioned towards children, but anyone can use their puzzles to learn the basic principles of coding. Codecademy offers free courses in popular languages like JavaScript, Python and Ruby, whereas Google’s app specializes only in JavaScript.

But Holmes says Grasshopper isn’t trying to replace services like Codecademy. Instead, it aims to provide an introduction for those who may feel too intimidated to try coding in the first place. Part of the inspiration behind Grasshopper comes from Holmes’ own experience studying computer science at Stanford University. “You run up against a lot of these things as an adult, often being told that it’s too complicated, or you just don’t know where to start,” she says. “We’re trying to be the launchpad.”

By LISA EADICICCO April 18, 2018

http://time.com/5243949/google-grasshopper-game/

Google loses Android battle and could owe Oracle billions of dollars

Posted on June 15th, 2018

Google just lost a major copyright case that could cost it billions of dollars and change how tech companies approach software development.

An appeals court said on Tuesday that Google violated copyright laws when it used Oracle’s open-source Java software to build the Android platform in 2009.

Tuesday’s ruling is the latest development in a topsy-turvy eight-year battle between Google(GOOG) and Oracle (ORCL).

Oracle first brought its case against Google in 2010, claiming that Android infringes two patents that Oracle holds on its Java software, a ubiquitous programming language powering everything from phones to websites.

In 2012, a jury determined that Java does not deserve protection under copyright law. Two years later, an appeals court overturned the ruling, raising the question of whether Google’s use of Oracle’s API violated copyright law.

A jury determined in 2016 that Google’s use of Oracle’s APIs was legal under the copyright law’s fair use doctrine, which allows the free use of copyrighted material under specific circumstances. Oracle appealed the decision, and a judge took its side on Tuesday.

“There is nothing fair about taking a copyrighted work verbatim and using it for the same purpose and function as the original in a competing platform,” a panel of three Federal Circuit judges wrote in Tuesday’s opinion.

Oracle said in a statement on Tuesday that the recent “decision protects creators and consumers.” Google said it is weighing its next steps. It could appeal to the full slate of judges on the court.

“We are disappointed the court reversed the jury finding that Java is open and free for everyone,” a Google spokesman said in a statement. “This type of ruling will make apps and online services more expensive for users. We are considering our options.”

Another court will decide how much Google owes Oracle in damages.

As of 2016, Oracle was seeking about $9 billion from Google. But because APIs have become much more widespread over the years, a court could decide that Oracle deserves more, said Christopher Carani, a partner with McAndrews, Held & Malloy and a professor at Northwestern’s law school.

“The numbers in this case will be staggering,” he added.

The verdict is likely to eclipse the current largest copyright verdict of $1.3 billion, awarded to Oracle when it sued rival SAP in 2010.

Google isn’t the only company that stands to lose from this decision. Many others rely on open-source software to develop their own platforms. Tuesday’s ruling means that some will either have pay to license certain software or develop their own from scratch.

“The decision is going to create a significant shift in how software is developed worldwide,” Carani said. “It really means that copyright in this context has teeth.”

“Sometimes free is not really free,” he added.

— CNNMoney’s David Goldman contributed reporting.

by Danielle Wiener-Bronner @dwbronnerMarch 28, 2018: 8:44 AM ET

CNNMoney’s David Goldman contributed reporting.

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/27/news/companies/google-oracle-case/index.html

Google just gave a stunning demo of Assistant making an actual phone call

Posted on June 12th, 2018

It’s hard to believe AI can interact with people this naturally

Onstage at I/O 2018, Google showed off a jaw-dropping new capability of Google Assistant: in the not too distant future, it’s going to make phone calls on your behalf. CEO Sundar Pichai played back a phone call recording that he said was placed by the Assistant to a hair salon. The voice sounded incredibly natural; the person on the other end had no idea they were talking to a digital AI helper. Google Assistant even dropped in a super casual “mmhmmm” early in the conversation.

Pichai reiterated that this was a real call using Assistant and not some staged demo. “The amazing thing is that Assistant can actually understand the nuances of conversation,” he said. “We’ve been working on this technology for many years. It’s called Google Duplex.”

Duplex really feels like next-level AI stuff, but Google’s chief executive said it’s still very much under development. Google plans to conduct early testing of Duplex inside Assistant this summer “to help users make restaurant reservations, schedule hair salon appointments, and get holiday hours over the phone.”

Pichai says the Assistant can react intelligently even when a conversation “doesn’t go as expected” and veers off course a bit from the given objective. “We’re still developing this technology, and we want to work hard to get this right,” he said. “We really want it to work in cases, say, if you’re a busy parent in the morning and your kid is sick and you want to call for a doctor’s appointment.” Google has published a blog post with more details and soundbites of Duplex in action.

“The technology is directed towards completing specific tasks, such as scheduling certain types of appointments. For such tasks, the system makes the conversational experience as natural as possible, allowing people to speak normally, like they would to another person, without having to adapt to a machine.” Google envisions other use cases like having Assistant call businesses and inquire about their hours to help keep Maps listings up to date. The company says it wants to be transparent about where and when Duplex is being used, as a voice that sounds this realistic and convincing is certain to raise some questions.

In current testing, Google notes that Duplex successfully completes most conversations and tasks on its own without any intervention from a person on Google’s end. But there are cases where it gets overwhelmed and hands off to a human operator. This section on the ins and outs of Duplex is very interesting:

The Google Duplex system is capable of carrying out sophisticated conversations and it completes the majority of its tasks fully autonomously, without human involvement. The system has a self-monitoring capability, which allows it to recognize the tasks it cannot complete autonomously (e.g., scheduling an unusually complex appointment).In these cases, it signals to a human operator, who can complete the task.

To train the system in a new domain, we use real-time supervised training. This is comparable to the training practices of many disciplines, where an instructor supervises a student as they are doing their job, providing guidance as needed, and making sure that the task is performed at the instructor’s level of quality. In the Duplex system, experienced operators act as the instructors. By monitoring the system as it makes phone calls in a new domain, they can affect the behavior of the system in real time as needed. This continues until the system performs at the desired quality level, at which point the supervision stops and the system can make calls autonomously.

By Chris Welch @chriswelch May 8, 2018, 1:54pm EDT

https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/8/17332070/google-assistant-makes-phone-call-demo-duplex-io-2018