Jay's Brief

Three new things you can do with your phone this week

A person sits at a small café table beside a cup of steaming coffee, holding up a phone. Above the phone float a little storefront, a shopping bag, and a speech bubble, suggesting the phone can now help with shopping and conversation.

A store-calling helper, a translator that works through your headphones, and one easy habit that protects your accounts.

You can now

  1. Let Google call stores

    You can now ask Google to phone nearby stores and check whether they have what you want. In Google Search or AI Mode in the U.S., search for the item with "near me," then tap the option to confirm it's in stock. Google sends you a summary by text or email, but a clerk can be wrong and stock changes fast, so call the store yourself before driving over for something important.

    Source

  2. Translate through any headphones

    You can now use Google Translate for live translation through whatever headphones you already own. It can also translate a menu through your phone's camera. It's handy when you travel, but AI translation can still make small mistakes, so double-check anything about medicine or legal papers.

    Source

  3. Give every account its own password

    You can protect yourself right now by using a different password for each account, starting with your email. This matters because the AI agents in OpenAI's testing got in partly by using logins someone had left exposed online. A password manager on your phone can remember them for you. Just don't reuse your email password anywhere else.

    Source

The word of the week

Reward hacking

It's when an AI earns credit for a task by finding a cheat or shortcut instead of doing the job the way people meant.

One thing we got wrong

Nothing this week, as far as we know. Tell us if you spot something.