What is Google’s Project Mariner? This AI agent can navigate the web for you

Following OpenAI’s lead, Google launched a slew of AI bulletins forward of the vacation season, specializing in agentic AI. The bulletins included the extremely anticipated Gemini 2.0, which is powering different superior AI merchandise, together with Mission Mariner.

Mission Mariner is a analysis prototype constructed on Gemini 2.0 that explores human-agent interactions. It will possibly automate duties in your browser, performing like an AI agent by finishing up duties delegated to it on the net for you. If it appears a bit sophisticated, the examples will actually assist carry it to life. 

How does it work? Mission Mariner lives within the internet browser as an experimental Chrome extension and understands the contents of your display, together with photos, code, kinds, and extra. On the right-hand window, you’ll be able to sort into the chatbot no matter activity you need the agent to carry out for you. 

As soon as it understands your question, Mariner will navigate web sites in your behalf in actual time, motive via what it must do to hold out your activity, and offer you a view of its plan earlier than making a course of. In accordance with Google, Mission Mariner scored 83.5% working as a single agent setup when evaluated in opposition to the WebVoyager benchmark.

In a Google demo, the person has a Google Sheet open with 4 corporations listed. Then, to seek out the contact info for every, the person asks the extension to take action as a substitute of wanting every one up for themself. They ask Mariner to “Memorize this listing of corporations. Then, discover their web sites and lookup a contact electronic mail I can use to achieve them. Keep in mind these so I can use them later.” 

Then, the agent reveals step-by-step the way it plans to deal with the immediate whereas navigating the online so the person can see its reasoning course of. It solely works within the lively tab, by no means within the background, and Google recommends there at all times be human supervision. 

What you see as an finish person is much like when IT takes distant management of your pc, seeing the cursor transfer throughout your display and actions being carried out for you. Earlier than performing delicate actions, like putting an order, Mariner asks for person affirmation. Google reassures customers that it is actively researching new forms of dangers and mitigations to verify the device is constructed responsibly.

Since Mariner continues to be in its early phases, the extension is barely out there to a small group of trusted testers, however you’ll be able to join the trusted tester waitlist on the Mission Mariner website. Till all customers are given entry, you will discover many different AI experiments on Google Labs which are out there at this time.