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Google makes some of the biggest changes ever, only to add more artificial intelligence to his search engine.
The company will now allow users to search for videos, ask questions with their voice while searching for images, and identify songs. The company will also revamp search results, adding new ways to shop and organizing search results using AI.
Google will also change the way it presents its “AI Overviews” feature, which has been rolling out in recent months. It’s supposed to use artificial intelligence to respond to user queries – but has encountered a series of issues, including encouraging users to eat rocks and glue.
Now these previews will include more links to web pages in an effort to give more context to queries.
Some of these tools will also work together. Google has confirmed it will begin rolling out a similar tool for asking questions while recording video to early testers in its Search Labs program, saying its AI tools will be able to “make sense of the video and your question” before producing an AI. Overview, showing an AI response as well as useful resources from around the web.
The updates continue the ongoing arms race between the world’s largest technology companies to introduce compelling new AI-powered generative tools to keep existing users engaged, as well as attract new ones.
On Wednesday, OpenAI, the company behind generative AI chatbot ChatGPT, confirmed its latest funding round had raised US$6.6 billion (£4.97 billion) – the largest ever – and valued the company at more than $150bn (£112bn), a sign that the frenzy around AI remains.
In its update, Google also announced that it will begin rolling out new AI-curated search results pages, starting with the United States, and beginning with searches related to recipes and food inspiration on mobile.
Google said: “You will now see a full-page experience, with relevant results curated just for you. You can easily explore content and insights from around the web, including articles, videos, forums and more, all in one place.
Google said that when testing the new changes to AI Previews, it found that this “improved experience” had “led to increased traffic to supported websites compared to the previous design.”
Some critics had previously suggested that placing AI previews above listed search results could impact publishers and advertisers, who could see clicks to their web pages decline if they were moved further down the page.
Google said it found that adding links in previews meant “people find it easier to visit sites that interest them.”
In a bid to help businesses that use Google Search, the tech giant also confirmed that it is introducing ads into AI previews, starting in the US on mobile.
Additional reporting by agencies
