In big change, Google to use AI-generated answers in search results

In a major update to its search engine in 25 years, Google announced on Tuesday that it will be introducing AI-generated answers to online queries made by users in the United States. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, made the announcement at an event in California, stating that the new feature, called "AI overviews," will be launched this week for users in the US and will soon be available in other countries as well.

Under the new update, when users perform a search on Google, many of the search results will now include an AI "overview" at the top of the page, preceding the usual list of links and features. These AI-generated answers, powered by Google's Gemini AI technology, will provide a paragraph or two of explanation along with links to the online sources that provide the information.

Liz Reid, the head of the Google Search team, explained that users can ask any question or request assistance with various tasks, such as research, planning, or brainstorming, and Google will handle the legwork to provide comprehensive answers. This update appears to be a response to the emergence of AI-powered search engines like Perplexity and rumors about OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, developing its own AI search tool.

However, content creators and small publishers are expressing concerns about this change, as they fear that users will no longer click through to websites to find information. Research firm Gartner predicts a 25 percent decline in web traffic from search engines by 2026 due to the introduction of AI bots and similar features.

In response to speculation about the potential impact of ChatGPT-style chatbots on its business, Google pushed back and stated that AI Overviews have actually increased user engagement and satisfaction. According to Liz Reid, people are using Google Search more and achieving better results because they can ask complex questions in a single search, including all the nuances and caveats they have in mind.

Google's announcement was made during an AI-focused keynote presentation at the company's annual Google I/O developers conference in Mountain View, California. In addition to AI-generated search results, Google also revealed plans to apply AI to searches based on video content as the query source. This aligns with OpenAI's recent release of GPT-4o, an update to their flagship model capable of generating content and understanding commands in voice, text, and images.

Google showcased demos of its AI technology, similar to OpenAI, where staff members used their smartphones' video cameras to enable the AI to recognize its surroundings and perform assistant-like tasks. The goal of these advancements is to create a conversational, intuitive, and helpful experience for users, as stated by Sissie Hsiao, the General Manager of Gemini Experiences and Google Assistant. Users can look forward to collaborating with the most intelligent and personalized version of Gemini yet.