Since the launch of Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November, big tech firms have been building their own versions of conversational artificial intelligence (AI) tools. When Microsoft announced AI-powered updates for its search engine earlier this year, CEO Satya Nadella teased Google, saying “They [Google] are the 800-pound gorilla [in web search], and with our innovation, they will want to come out and show that they can dance.”
And the ‘800-pound gorilla’ did make some moves. But not as people expected it to. The search giant performed a foxtrot, and not an impromptu breakdance. It is continuing to move through the ball room in steady circles gauging the landscape.
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Google’s moves in connection with Generative (Gen) AI have been measured and slow paced, particularly after its disastrous Bard launch in February. After a few iterations of Bard, the Alphabet-owned company has finally found it comfortable to experiment on its home turf — the web search.
Building on its search and AI experience, Google on Thursday rolled a new experiment in India for people to experience Gen AI in Google Search. These features will be available under its Search Generative Experience (SGE), which is an opt-in experiment in Search Labs.
The new search feature will enable users to get an overview of important information to consider alongside suggested links to delve deeper. It will also help them find answers more quickly, making the search experience faster. Gen AI on Google can do the heavy lifting in terms sorting vast amount of information. This feature will also help with coding queries and debugging.
Under India-specific features, the search giant has included a toggle function that will let users switch between Hindi and English. Currently it offers only Hindi option, and Google has not mentioned whether it plans to roll it out to other languages.
Users can also speak to Google, like how they type in the search field, and get the search result as a snapshot. Google will continue to keep the top spots for ads. But this section will be highlighted in bold with a sponsored tag so that people can know it is an ad.
Ads in a Gen AI space are relatively new, so Google is experimenting to understand what will work and what will not.
“On ads, there is lots for us to learn and get feedback so we can offer a delightful experience, both to the users as well as the advertisers. That is how we are approaching the ads strategy,” said Puneesh Kumar, General Manager for Search in India at Google.
The SGE experiment will be available to opted-in users on Chrome desktop from Thursday, and it will be rolled out to the Google App on Android and iOS from today over the coming week, the company said.
On the question of whether Bard’s role will be diminished because of SGE, Kumar said, “Bard and SGE are different experiences. With the new generative AI-powered capability search, we’re trying to primarily look at information journeys, where you need to seek out knowledge, consult a range of sources. This is where SGE will play a big role.”
Bard, on the other hand, “will be complementary to search, and serves as a direct experience to LLMs,” he added.
