‘Modality of interaction is evolving’: Google SVP Prabhakar Raghavan on the changing nature of web search

Raghavan, who was in Delhi to deliver a lecture at the Indian Institute of Technology, reiterates that chatbots like Bard are not an answer to Google Search. “The outputs of a language model can be fine-tuned but they clearly represent a trade-off between fluidity and factuality,” he said. “They are not capable of sound reasoning, intelligence or sentience.”

Even though AI-based chatbots are making a lot of buzz on the internet, when it comes to verifying facts, people still like to do a Google search because of the trust and how it delivers results. “We find users who use these chatbots actually use Google more to constantly verify facts,” he said.

Search engines first hit the mainstream in the early 90s, but they haven’t fundamentally changed since then. Typically, when users type a keyword into the main search bar, the search engine displays results. In addition, Google also lets users access information in a more natural, intuitive way using tools such as Google Lens, which allows people to search using images and text. But Bard and ChatGPT, both based on so-called large language models, are different from how a traditional search works. They generate responses to text-based prompts and thus produce human-like responses to queries.

It’s not that Google doesn’t understand that web search is changing. At Google’s annual I/O conference this year, the search giant announced that it will show results with generative artificial intelligence technology. This marks the first big step that could change how billions of users find information. Currently, Google holds over 80 per cent of the global search market, and processes an average of 3.5 billion searches daily, according to InternetLiveStats.

Raghavan, who reports to CEO Sundar Pichai, oversees Google Search, Assistant, Geo, Ads, Commerce, and Payments products. Previously, he was SVP of ads, commerce and payments. Search continues to remain one of Alphabet’s most important businesses.