Google Search takes on Bing with new AI capabilities

Google's upcoming AI capabilities will help users search more efficiently, comprehend complex topics quicker, and learn various insights.

Google has dubbed the new AI capabilities as Search Generative Experience (Image: Google)

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Google Search has enjoyed total market domination for almost two decades now, and today, it’s synonymous with searching anything on the internet. But with competitors like Bing more recently leveraging the power of generative AI to provide smarter search results, Google has been under pressure.

At I/O 2023, the search engine giant announced that Google Search is also gaining AI capabilities that will help users search more efficiently, comprehend complex topics quicker, and learn various insights. Google has dubbed these new capabilities as Search Generative Experience – or SGE for short.

To demonstrate how SGE can help simplify the search process, Google gave a query as an example. “What’s better for a family with kids under 3 and a dog, bryce canyon or arches” isn’t something you’d normally ask a search engine – you’d have to break the query down into multiple smaller ones. But thanks to generative AI, Google will soon be able to handle queries like these just fine, sharing a “snapshot with key information to consider, with links to dig deeper.”

For example, for the above query, Google generates a snapshot titled “How long to spend at Bryce Canyon with kids?” as a follow up question. Tapping this will fire up a new conversational mode, where you can ask Google more about the topic you’re exploring.

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Context is carried from question to question to help you continue your exploration in a more natural way. “You’ll also find helpful jumping-off points to web content and a range of perspectives that you can dig into,” adds Google.

In addition to enhanced search capabilities, Google’s new AI will also help users make purchase decisions faster, even complex ones. When searching for a product, users will get a snapshot of factors to consider and products that fit the bill.

Like other generative AI models, though, SGE is subject to the same drawbacks that holds it back from achieving full accuracy. Google acknowledges this saying it’s committed to a “responsible and deliberate approach.”

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Google says that the Search Labs feature will be available on Chrome desktop and the Google App for Android and iOS in the US at launch. It’s also limited to the English language only.

In India, accessing the Labs website throws a “Search Labs isn’t available for your account right now” error though, so we may have to wait for a bit to enjoy these new generative AI features on Google.