In the future, Google plans to integrate artificial intelligence chat features with its main search engine product as a way for the company to keep up with the many new AI tools that have the possibility of threatening the dominance that the company currently has in the online search space.
On Wednesday, Google said it would be unveiling Google Search’s “next evolution,” which includes a chatbot powered by AI that could answer questions “you never thought Search could answer,” the company said in a release. The idea is to help users get whatever answers they’re looking for faster than they’ve ever been able to do before.
Part of the change will significantly alter the way that Google Search results will feel and look. After users type things into the search bar on the Google Search main page, an automatic pop-up will appear that will have responses generated by AI, in addition to the traditional results that they’re used to seeing now.
Currently, users will be able to put their name on a waitlist to get access to this new version of Google Search. It’ll launch first in the U.S., then make its way to other countries. The company said that a limited number of users would be able to gain access to the new search in the next few weeks, and sign-ups for the waitlist can be done through Google’s Chrome desktop browser or through the Chrome mobile app.
The company revealed all this information about its new Google Search features and look during I/O, which is the developer event it holds every year. This year, its focus was mainly on new hardware products and AI technology.
In addition to the new AI-powered Search, Google announced that it will be launching PaLM 2, which is a model of AI language that it hopes will rival GPT-4, an AI language model produced by OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
Google is saying that this new version of the technology will produce better logical results, while also being better at mathematics and common sense reasoning. The AI language will also be able to generate specialized computer code in multiple programming languages, the company said.
Many Big Tech companies are throwing their full force behind developing and deploying new AI features in productivity tools and search engines, due in large part to the fact that ChatGPT has had such viral success.
Insiders have said that the enormous amount of attention that’s been paid to ChatGPT was a major reason why the management team at Google declared a “code red” for the company’s search business.
Google will also be expanding current access to Bard, which is the company’s chatbot that exists right now. It operates outside of Google Search right now, helping users complete things such as write drafts of essays, get ideas for lunch based on whatever might be in their fridge at the time and even plan a party for a friend.
