At the Google I/O 2024 conference, Liz Reid, the Head of Google Search, announced a significant evolution for the platform’s capabilities. Reid detailed how an upcoming AI-powered search mode will integrate with a user’s personal data across Google’s ecosystem to provide highly customized and context-aware results.
Reid stated that Google Search will soon be able to “do the searching for you” by developing a deep understanding of a user’s world. This new functionality relies on the AI’s ability to access and synthesize information from a user’s personal Google products, such as Gmail, Drive, and Photos.
AI-Powered Reasoning and Search
The new feature, part of the “AI Overviews” initiative, is designed to handle complex, multi-step queries. Reid explained that Search is gaining a “reasoning” capability, allowing it to take a complex task, break it down into smaller pieces, and use various tools to find the required information. This marks a shift from traditional keyword-based searches to a more conversational and assistive model.
The goal is for the new AI-organized search results page to manage the planning and research process for the user. This capability will be enabled by what Google calls “multi-step reasoning,” which allows the AI to handle queries that would have previously required numerous individual searches.
Integration with Your Google Data
To illustrate the new functionality, Reid provided an example of a user searching for a yoga studio. The AI could use the user’s location from Google Maps to calculate travel times, access class schedules from confirmation emails in Gmail, and use its broader knowledge to find popular studios suitable for beginners. Reid articulated that for Search to be truly helpful, it needs to “know everything about you.”
This new AI-organized search experience began rolling out to users in the United States, with plans to expand to billions of users globally by the end of the year. The announcement has been noted by privacy advocates who have expressed concerns regarding the extensive use of personal data.
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