Google Expands AI Overviews to All Search Users

CNET
14 May 202410:28

TLDRGoogle is revolutionizing its search capabilities with the introduction of AI overviews and multi-step reasoning powered by a custom Gemini model. This advancement allows users to ask complex questions and receive comprehensive, instant answers that include a range of perspectives and links for deeper exploration. Starting in the US, AI overviews will roll out globally, eventually reaching over a billion users. Google's AI agent breaks down larger questions into parts, solving them in sequence with the highest quality real-time information. This leads to streamlined searches for activities like finding the best yoga and Pilates studios in a city, complete with intro offers and walking times from specific locations. Furthermore, Google Search will assist in planning various activities, from meals to trips, by generating customized plans and even suggesting shopping carts. The platform will also provide AI-organized pages for brainstorming and idea generation, clustering results into helpful categories. Upcoming features include the ability to ask questions with videos, showcasing Google's deep visual understanding and its ability to analyze and provide solutions to problems through AI overviews.

Takeaways

  • 🚀 Google is expanding AI capabilities in search, making it more powerful and user-friendly.
  • 🔍 A new Gemini model is introduced, customized for Google Search, enhancing real-time information, ranking, and quality systems.
  • 🌐 AI Overviews will be rolled out to all US users first, and then to more countries, eventually reaching over a billion people.
  • 🤖 Multi-step reasoning is being introduced, allowing Google to break down complex questions and provide comprehensive answers.
  • 🧘‍♂️ For example, finding the best yoga and Pilates studios in Boston with introductory offers and walking times can be done with a single query.
  • 🍲 Google Search with Gemini can assist with advanced planning, such as creating a 3-day meal plan that is easy to prepare.
  • 📈 The AI can customize plans based on user requests, like swapping in a vegetarian dish for a meal plan.
  • 🏙️ When searching for ideas, Google will provide an AI-organized page with clusters of relevant suggestions.
  • 🎥 Google Search will soon allow users to ask questions using videos, leveraging advanced speech and visual understanding models.
  • 📚 The custom Gemini model acts as an AI agent, using multi-step reasoning to solve complex problems and provide high-quality information.
  • 🔗 Google Search will become more integrated with planning aspects of life, from meals and trips to parties and workouts.

Q & A

  • What is the new feature that Google is expanding to all search users?

    -Google is expanding AI Overviews to all search users, which provides instant answers complete with a range of perspectives and links to dive deeper.

  • What is the role of the new Gemini model in Google's search advancements?

    -The new Gemini model, customized for Google search, acts as an AI agent that uses multi-step reasoning to break down complex questions, solve them in order, and provide high-quality, real-time information.

  • How does Google's AI Overviews help users with complex questions?

    -AI Overviews can handle questions that are essentially a bundle of multiple sub-questions. It provides an overview in seconds, doing the research for the user and presenting the most relevant information.

  • What are the three unique strengths of Google's new search capabilities?

    -The three unique strengths are real-time information with over a trillion facts, unparalleled ranking and quality systems, and the power of the Gemini model which unlocks new capabilities in search.

  • When will AI Overviews be available to users outside the US?

    -AI Overviews will begin rolling out to users in the US and will expand to more countries soon, with the aim to reach over a billion people in Google search by the end of the year.

  • How does Google Search assist in planning tasks like creating a meal plan?

    -Google Search uses advanced reasoning and logic to create a 3-day meal plan that is easy to prepare. It can customize the plan based on user preferences, such as adding a vegetarian dish, and provide a list of ingredients.

  • What is the potential future feature that Google is planning to add to its search capabilities?

    -Google is planning to allow users to add items from their meal plans or shopping lists directly to their preferred shopping carts through search.

  • How does Google's AI organized page provide customized search results for users?

    -Google's AI organized page uncovers interesting angles for the user to explore and organizes results into helpful clusters. It uses contextual factors and presents a dynamic whole page experience for brainstorming and inspiration.

  • What is the new video understanding feature that Google is introducing?

    -Google is introducing a feature that allows users to ask questions with video directly in Google Search. The system uses speech models, visual understanding, and the Gemini model to understand and provide insights based on the video content.

  • How does Google's search help users who are unsure of what to ask?

    -For users who need help brainstorming, Google Search provides an AI-generated and organized page built specifically for the user's query, offering a variety of angles and suggestions to explore.

  • What does the term 'Gemini era' refer to in the context of Google Search?

    -The 'Gemini era' refers to the new phase of Google Search that integrates the power of Gemini's agent capabilities, allowing Google to perform tasks such as searching, researching, planning, and brainstorming on behalf of the user.

Outlines

00:00

🔍 The Evolution of Google Search with AI

Google is expanding the capabilities of its search engine with a new Gemini model tailored for Google Search. This advancement is based on three unique strengths: real-time information with over a trillion facts, a trusted ranking and quality system, and the power of Gemini to unlock new agent capabilities. These features allow Google to provide instant AI overviews, multi-step reasoning for complex questions, and detailed information on various topics such as finding the best yoga and Pilates studios in Boston, including their offers and walking times. The custom Gemini model acts as an AI agent, breaking down larger questions into parts, solving them in order, and utilizing high-quality, real-time information to provide comprehensive answers.

05:01

🍲 AI-Powered Planning and Organization

Google Search is enhancing the user experience by assisting with planning and organization. For instance, it can generate a 3-day meal plan that is easy to prepare, offering a variety of recipes and the option to customize the plan, such as swapping in a vegetarian dish. The planning capabilities extend to various aspects of life, including meals, trips, parties, dates, workout routines, and more. Additionally, when users are unsure of what to search for, Google provides an AI-organized page with clusters of suggestions based on the user's query, such as finding a perfect restaurant in Dallas for an anniversary celebration. The Gemini model uncovers interesting angles and organizes results into helpful clusters, even considering contextual factors like the time of year.

10:03

📹 Video Integration and Future Prospects

Google is introducing the ability to ask questions using videos directly in the search engine. This feature leverages advanced speech models, deep visual understanding, and the custom Gemini model to understand and break down the video content. For example, a user can record a video of a record player that isn't functioning correctly and ask Google for help. Google then provides an AI overview with potential reasons and troubleshooting steps. This showcases the integration of Google's various AI technologies to deliver a comprehensive and helpful response. As these features roll out in the coming weeks, users can opt into Search Labs to be among the first to try them out.

Mindmap

Keywords

Generative AI Search

Generative AI Search refers to a new type of search functionality that uses artificial intelligence to not only find information but also generate new content or responses based on user queries. In the context of the video, it is a feature that allows Google to provide more comprehensive and tailored answers to users' questions, going beyond simple search results.

Gemini Model

The Gemini Model is a custom AI model developed for Google Search. It is designed to enhance the search experience by incorporating multi-step reasoning, which allows Google to break down complex questions into simpler parts and provide more accurate and detailed answers. The model is a key component in the evolution of Google's search capabilities.

Real-time Information

Real-time information is the ability to access and provide data that is current and up-to-date. In the video, Google's search engine uses real-time information, with over a trillion facts about people, places, and things, to deliver the most relevant and timely search results to users.

Ranking and Quality Systems

Ranking and Quality Systems are algorithms and processes that determine the order and relevance of search results. Google has been trusted for decades for its ranking systems, which aim to provide users with the best possible web content based on their queries.

AI Overviews

AI Overviews are summaries generated by Google's AI that provide users with instant answers to their questions, complete with a range of perspectives and links for further reading. They are designed to save users time by doing the work of gathering information, allowing them to get a comprehensive understanding of a topic with a single query.

Multi-step Reasoning

Multi-step Reasoning is a feature of Google's AI that allows the search engine to understand and process complex questions that have multiple parts or sub-questions. It enables Google to conduct the necessary research and provide a synthesized answer that addresses the entire query, making the search process more efficient for users.

Google's Index of Information

Google's Index of Information refers to the vast database of data that Google maintains, which includes details about over 250 million places, updated in real-time. This index is used to provide users with the most relevant and current information in response to their search queries.

Meal Planning

Meal Planning, as discussed in the video, is an example of how Google's AI can assist with complex tasks. Google Search can generate a 3-day meal plan that is easy to prepare, offering a variety of recipes and the ability to customize the plan based on user preferences, such as incorporating more vegetables or swapping in vegetarian dishes.

AI Organized Page

An AI Organized Page is a search results page that is dynamically created and customized by Google's AI based on the user's query. It clusters results into helpful categories and provides a more organized and comprehensive view of the information, making it easier for users to explore different angles and find what they are looking for.

Video Understanding

Video Understanding is Google's ability to process and comprehend information within videos, allowing users to ask questions directly related to the video content. This feature was demonstrated in the video with a live demo where Google provided troubleshooting steps for a record player issue based on a video query.

Search Labs

Search Labs is a program or platform by Google that allows users to opt in and be among the first to try out new features and functionalities in Google Search. It is a way for Google to test and gather feedback on upcoming innovations before they are rolled out to the general public.

Highlights

Google expands AI overviews to all search users, enhancing the capabilities of Google Search with generative AI.

A new Gemini model customized for Google Search enables real-time information access and improved quality systems.

Google Search now offers AI overviews that provide instant answers with a range of perspectives and links.

AI overviews will be available to over a billion people by the end of the year, starting with a US rollout.

Google introduces multi-step reasoning in search to handle complex questions with multiple sub-questions.

Google can now find the best yoga and Pilates studios in Boston, including details like intro offers and walking times.

The custom Gemini model uses multi-step reasoning to break down and solve complex problems in real-time.

Google's index of information about the real world, with over 250 million places, is updated in real-time for enhanced search results.

Google Search can now help plan complex tasks like meals, trips, and events with advanced reasoning and logic.

AI organized pages provide custom-built experiences for brainstorming and inspiration, with clusters of helpful information.

Google Search will soon allow users to ask questions with video, leveraging deep visual understanding and speech models.

The AI overview generated from video includes troubleshooting steps and helpful links for quick problem-solving.

Google's advancements in the Gemini era aim to reimagine search, making it more powerful and user-friendly.

Users can expect these new features to roll out in the coming weeks, with the option to opt into Search Labs for early access.

Google's AI advancements are set to dramatically expand the possibilities of online search and information retrieval.

The new features are designed to take the work out of searching, researching, planning, and brainstorming for users.

Google's commitment to innovation ensures that billions of users will continue to rely on its search capabilities for decades to come.