The future of Google Search lies in artificial intelligence (AI), but not in the way you might expect. The company, which has become synonymous with internet search, isn’t relying on chatbots or redesigning its homepage to look like a ChatGPT-style messaging system. Instead, Google is integrating AI into its existing search results.
Google’s AI Snapshot
To illustrate this, Google’s VP of Search, Liz Reid, demonstrated a unique feature known as the “AI snapshot“. Sourced from the open web and produced by Google’s large language models, this feature provides AI-generated summaries for search queries. Moreover, the AI snapshot includes links to websites with corroborating information.
Google’s AI-First Search Results Page
This transformation of Google’s search results page signifies an AI-first approach. It utilizes some of Google’s most advanced large language model (LLM) technologies, including a new general-purpose model called PaLM 2 and the Multitask Unified Model (MUM), which Google uses to understand multiple types of media.
Search Generative Experience (SGE)
To access these AI snapshots, users need to opt into a new feature called Search Generative Experience (SGE), part of another new feature called Search Labs. Not all search queries will trigger an AI response. Sensitive subjects like health and finances are currently set to avoid AI interference altogether.
SGE: An Experiment in AI
Despite being an experimental feature, Google executives view SGE as a long-term foundational change to the way people search. AI adds an additional layer of input, helping users ask more detailed questions, and an extra layer of output, designed to answer your questions and guide you to new ones.
Implications of AI in Search
Google’s SGE presents the first step in a complete rethink of how billions of people find information online. With this change, the company hopes to improve its ability to provide answers to complex, multi-faceted queries where traditional search methods have struggled.
