1 minute read . May 15, 2023
Google has announced that new technology for generating content will be added to Gmail, Google Docs, Google Maps, Google Photos and its search engine. The search giant looks to bolster its core offerings with artificial intelligence (AI), with CEO Sundar Pichai promising to “rethink every core offering” with generative AI. Citigroup analysts said they were “confident” in the move. But Google’s rush to introduce AI could hurt users and advertisers, as users may stop clicking on links generated by AI searches, which could anger advertisers.
Google is now deeply involved in the AI arms race. The search giants announced a flurry of announcements last week about augmenting their flagship products with artificial intelligence.along bloomberg There are reports that the company is rushing to stuff generative AI into as many services as possible, and the company told its annual developer conference, I/O, that new technologies for generating content are being used in Gmail, Google Docs, It has been revealed that it will be introduced to Google Maps, Google Photos, etc. . It also announced the biggest change to Google Search in years, the awkward name change to “search generation experience.” This is a single, AI-generated answer to a query that appears above the normal results for an ad or link.
Google is now deeply involved in the AI arms race. The search giants announced a flurry of announcements last week about augmenting their flagship products with artificial intelligence.along bloomberg There are reports that the company is rushing to stuff generative AI into as many services as possible, and the company told its annual developer conference, I/O, that new technologies for generating content are being used in Gmail, Google Docs, It has been revealed that it will be introduced to Google Maps, Google Photos, etc. . It also announced the biggest change to Google Search in years, the awkward name change to “search generation experience.” This is a single, AI-generated answer to a query that appears above the normal results for an ad or link.
Google has made one thing clear. The company is under pressure to be careful about how it deploys this powerful technology, but it’s moving fast. But be wary of moving too quickly and damaging relationships with users and advertisers. Management has been unabashed in communicating their priorities. Note how Google Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan responded to Bloomberg’s question about external oversight of the company’s AI. He said Google will serve the scientific community, but will be “more committed to getting things into the product quickly.”
Google has made one thing clear. The company is under pressure to be careful about how it deploys this powerful technology, but it’s moving fast. But be wary of moving too quickly and damaging relationships with users and advertisers. Management has been unabashed in communicating their priorities. Note how Google Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan responded to Bloomberg’s question about external oversight of the company’s AI. He said Google will contribute to the scientific community, but will be “more committed to getting things into the product quickly.”
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When OpenAI launched ChatGPT six months ago, Google seemed behind. Now, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google parent company Alphabet, has vowed to “reimagine every core product” with generative AI. Some observers are impressed. “We are confident in Google’s generative AI strategy,” Citigroup analysts said in a report after the event. (Bloomberg has its own language model for finance, which could compete with his GPT-4 in OpenAI.)
Google appears to be strong in the cloud business, trailing Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure. Companies can use Google’s Duet AI service to build apps without any coding knowledge. Gmail users can get email drafts through AI. Google’s text-to-speech tool Chirp is accepting Wendy’s drive-thru orders. These could give Google a boost in a notoriously entrenched space thanks to its traditional contracts with companies. But the real question mark lies in the planned changes to Google’s biggest product, search.
When a user types in a query, Google’s search engine will soon be churning out AI answers synthesized from other text on the web. Below is an example query about visiting national parks with children and dogs. The answer is displayed at the top, with a link to the site where the answer was derived on the left. However, on the small screens of mobile devices, this looks very different. Users should scroll down to see these sources, never mind other sites that might help them with their search.
This is a concern for both Google’s users as well as paying customers such as advertisers and website publishers. Over 60% of his Google searches in the US are done on mobile phones. For most people, this means Google’s AI answers will occupy most of their phone screens. So, do users keep scrolling to find the quote they want to tap? Probably not.
Asked about whether people access these sources, a Google executive told The Washington Post, “Users really, really want to know where their information comes from.”
i won’t buy it Searchers may scan the link to double-check that it’s legitimate, but most of the time they won’t click the link. It takes a few more seconds to scroll and load, and forever online. After all, there’s a reason for the joke that the best place to keep a corpse is his second page of Google search results. Most people don’t mind continuing their search beyond the initial linked list.
“It’s a safe bet on laziness,” Silicon Valley celebrity Paul Graham tweeted on Tuesday, the day before Google announced, saying generative AI was “one of the biggest bets ever made on laziness.” rice field.
Graham is correct. And if Google’s AI search is so good that people stop clicking links, the price could anger advertising customers. It also risks eroding consumer trust if tools start generating too many incorrect answers, a problem OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Bing, and Google’s Bard have all run into. In a sign that Google still hasn’t figured out even the basics, a tech journalist asked Google’s new AI search for chocolate chip cookie recipes and got a recipe without chocolate chips.
This shows how uncertain times are for Google. Company executives have repeatedly said AI search is experimental. But for Google and its hundreds of millions of users, participating in this “experiment” may feel like traveling in a car whose steering wheel is designed on the fly. It’s going to be a wild drive, so fasten your seat belts.©Bloomberg
