Google I/O 2024 kicked off with several major artificial intelligence (AI) announcements. On Tuesday, the tech giant held its opening day keynote session, introducing new AI models, integrating AI with Google products, and previewing new features in Pixel smartphones and Android 15. During the event, the company also announced some new features for his Google Search. . Search Generative Experience (SGE), available only to some users, has launched in the US as AI Overviews. New multimodal features for the search engine were also announced.
AI overview
Last year, Google announced SGE, an AI-driven generative search that allows users to get a snapshot of AI-curated information at the top of the results page. This was an experimental feature available only to some users. The search giant is now rolling out the feature to everyone in the US, rebranding it as AI Overviews. This feature will soon be expanded to more countries and is confirmed to reach 1 billion users by the end of this year.
AI Overview, integrated with Gemini's capabilities, displays answers to “how-to” queries in a simple text format where information is curated from across the web. It also searches for the most relevant answers and displays them at the top of the page. It also helps the user to find the right product when shopping him online. The AI displays both links to sources and an overview of the topic.
The company will soon be introducing two additional format options for AI summaries: Simpler and Break it down. The Simpler format simplifies the language and makes topics understandable to children and non-technical people. The Break it down format, on the other hand, breaks down topics into smaller concepts to help users delve into complexity step by step. This will first be added as an experimental feature in Search Labs and will be available for English queries in the US.
New Google search feature
Separate from the AI overview, Google has introduced three new AI-powered features to search. First, Google Search is adding multi-step inference capabilities that help it understand complex questions from users. The search engine will display results that include all the requirements of your question. For example, if a user wants to know about the best gyms that are within walking distance and have referral benefits, search can understand their requirements and show them the closest gyms with the best ratings and referral benefits. can. The tech giant says it uses high-quality sources to find this information.
Google Search also has new planning features. With Gemini AI integration, you can now see search results for questions like meal planning and travel planning. It will be possible to display only relevant results, taking into account the user's respective criteria. “Searching for things like 'Create his 3-day meal plan for groups that are easy to prepare' will give you a starting point from the wide range of recipes on the web,” the company says. Additionally, users can adjust such queries to make detailed changes after the results are known. For example, users can choose vegetarian recipes or microwaveable recipes.
Finally, Google is bringing Gemini's multimodal capabilities to search. Users will soon be able to ask questions via video. To expand the scope of Google Search, the company plans to allow users to upload videos about what they're asking about. If you ask a question in text along with a video, the AI can process the video and answer your question. It's a useful tool for asking questions about things that are difficult to explain. Multi-step inference and planning is available via Search Labs, and video search will be added soon. Both are currently limited to English queries in the US.
