Google debuts 'AI Mode' to transform search with expert conversations
Google has unveiled a new artificial intelligence (AI) mode designed to integrate chatbot features more seamlessly into its search engine, offering users the experience of conversing with an expert.
The "AI Mode" was made available in the US on Tuesday, appearing as an option in Google's search bar, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The change, unveiled at the company's annual developers conference in Mountain View, California, is part of the tech giant's push to remain competitive against ChatGPT and other AI services, which threaten to erode Google's dominance of online search.
The company also announced plans for its own augmented reality glasses and said it planned to offer a subscription AI tool.
Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of Google-parent Alphabet, said the incorporation of the company's Gemini chatbot into its search signalled a "new phase of the AI platform shift".
"With more advanced reasoning, you can ask AI both longer and more complex queries," Pichai told the audience.
The company's foray into AI-powered glasses comes more than a decade after it pioneered smart glasses with its "Google Glasses", which ultimately flopped.
The new Google glasses are being developed with eyeglass retailers Warby Parker and Gentle Monster and will feature a camera, microphone, and speakers.
With the renewed effort, Google hopes to compete against Meta's AI-powered glasses made with Ray-Ban.
The company said it expected to start building the new product later this year.
Leo Gebbie, principal analyst and director for the Americas at CCS Insight, said Google had been expected to wrap AI more tightly into its products.
He said he thought the chatbot would help minimise the number of web pages that users must sift through, while also allowing people to ask more complicated queries.
"For the end user, this should mean less time spent browsing the web itself, and more time spent talking with Google's AI tools," he said.
Any updates that Google makes to search are "of critical importance," added Gebbie, since the search business contributes the vast majority of Google's revenues.
Google's attempts to keep up with ChatGPT could fundamentally change the nature of its search engine, which could impact its profits.
"Google is getting more efficient at answering questions, but less efficient at generating clicks – and clicks is how they get paid," said Cory Johnson, chief market strategist at Epistrophy Capital Research.
The announcements also come as the company fights a court battle in the US over potential changes to its business after a judge ruled it had a monopoly in search.
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