The emergence of AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT has caused a considerable ripple in tech and its neighboring sectors. While Microsoft appears to be in the driver’s seat with hefty investments in ChatGPT, and by consequence, its Bing-powered chatbot, Google is making its own moves to garner an advantage in this highly competitive sector with Bard. Just days before Google I/O 2023, a new report is providing inside info on the company’s plans for the future of Google Search — a revamped list of search results filled with social media posts, short-video content, and engaging AI-based conversations.
New reporting from The Wall Street Journal talks about Google’s willingness to depart from the conventional list of search results on the web, which currently comprises links, images, in addition to People also ask, Related searches, and so on. As per internal Google documents seen by WSJ, the idea is to revamp Google Search as we know it and make it more “visual, snackable, personal, and human.”
Some new AI features will reportedly be announced at Google I/O next Wednesday, including a conversational AI program codenamed “Magi,” the Journal says, quoting people in the know. The New York Times is originally credited with revealing the project’s secret name back in April, while WSJ says the company called over a “large group of employees” ahead of I/O to test Magi’s features.
A spokesperson for the company told WSJ that Search has always been a “rapidly evolving sector” and that these new additions are part of its long-term goals to integrate more AI and visual attributes, such as short videos, into search results.
The documents seen by WSJ suggest that Google is looking to implement at least some of these changes in Search this year, though no specific timeframe was mentioned. The content you’ll see within search results won’t just be limited to Google’s services like YouTube, though, and could even involve swiping through an endless stream of TikTok videos.
Meanwhile, the conversational aspect of the AI going into Google Search would supposedly encourage people to ask more follow-up questions. The goal seems to be to supercharge search results with the ability to find answers to questions that conventional search results couldn’t. A quote from an unnamed Google executive in the internal document sums it up pretty well: “More than answers, we’ll help you when there’s no right answer.”
More notably, these documents reveal the company’s intentions to provide necessary attributions in search results and literacy tools to “enable confidence” among site owners over the use of their content.
Google is already working on implementing AI with some of its existing services, such as Messages, albeit without the Bard branding, while its conversational chatbot also picked up the ability to code last month.
Based on this development, it seems like Google I/O will be rather busy for the company. A long list of announcements is expected at the event, including our favorite — the Pixel Fold, which the company revealed this week. However, pricing and precise availability details are expected to be shared only by Wednesday.
