Web browsers are probably not the first thing you think about when you think of AI, at least in the context of today’s consumer tech industry. But internet search giant Google may be looking to change that with its own Chrome browser. References have been found in the Canary – or beta – version of the browser suggesting that AI may be used to detect if a password has been compromised, and potentially even change it for you.
One software developer going by @Leopeva64 on X has shared screenshots showing the feature in question, under the “AI innovations” section of the Google Chrome browser settings. It’s called “Automated password Change” which sees the browser “offer to change your password for you when you sign in” if it finds one of your passwords has gotten involved in a data breach.
When expanded, the feature also mentions that “this feature uses AI and is experimental”, which kind of goes without saying. But more importantly, it also says that if you do get it to change your password for you, you don’t have to remember the new one because it gets saved by the Password Manager built into Google Chrome.
All that being said though, it’s unclear in what way this Google Chrome feature actually involves AI. After all, password managers have always been able to generate passwords for you. It also doesn’t exactly require AI to know if your passwords have been compromised, as services like Have I Been Pwned have existed since forever. In fact, competing browser Mozilla Firefox has had something similar in place since October 2019, before the generative AI craze.
(Source: @Leopeva64 / X)
