Having some help during the password creation process to protect your data is always welcome, especially for inexperienced users. Most novice users aren’t familiar with additional privacy methods and don’t use 2-factor authentication or other alternatives. Some websites even offer a password strength bar to show you how good your new password is.
Furthermore, if you use Google Chrome, you might have noticed a “suggest strong password” popup. From the looks of it, the popup might get a level up and use AI to generate passwords. While this seems good on paper, the question arises, how safe is it to use AI to create a password?
Patches in the code suggest Gemini will be incorporated into Chrome
An observant software development watcher noticed Google’s plan to integrate Gemini into Chrome’s password suggestion. Leopeva64 reported their findings on X (formerly Twitter). They spotted references to Gemini in patches of Gerrit and the findings are backed up by screenshots.
The codes and screenshots give us a brief view of how Gemini could be integrated into Chrome to upgrade the password suggestions. Some patches in Gerrit mention that Gemini could generate stronger passwords in the future. Users would see the suggestions when they create a new password or when they change one that is saved.
Something else shown in a line of code is that the feature will be turned off if all passwords are deleted. Unfortunately, it’s currently unknown if deleting all passwords is the only way to disable the AI feature, or if there will be another way.
Will it be safe to use Gemini password suggestions?
Using AI to generate passwords can become a game-changer as the passwords are more likely to be stronger than human-made ones. However, that is not to say that hackers won’t be able to bypass and hack the passwords.
Google Gemini is an LLM or Large Language Model, and like all LLMs, it can become a victim of leaks caused by prompts or injection hacks. These hacks are created to trick the AI into giving out private information such as login details.
That said, when it comes to technology nothing is 100% safe. Risks are present in pretty much everything, regardless of how minimal they may be. Google will likely implement several security features to ensure maximum user safety.