Last updated on August 17th, 2023 at 10:12 am
Google is enhancing its AI-powered search experience with new features aimed at helping users better understand and navigate information on the web. These updates include the ability to see definitions of unfamiliar terms, improved coding assistance, and a feature that allows users to tap into the AI power of the search experience while browsing. The goal is to provide users with the tools they need to better comprehend complex concepts, boost coding skills, and access relevant information more efficiently. With the addition of these features, Google’s AI search experience aims to empower users to learn and make sense of the vast amount of information available online.
Definitions of unfamiliar terms
In an effort to improve users’ understanding and comprehension of information they find on the web, Google’s AI-powered conversational mode in Search, known as Search Generative Experience (SGE), now offers several new updates. These updates include features that provide definitions of unfamiliar terms, improve coding understanding and debugging, and allow users to tap into the AI power of SGE while browsing the web. The goal is to help users better grasp complicated concepts, enhance their coding skills, and make sense of complex topics. With the new feature, users can hover over certain words to preview their definitions and see related images or diagrams that provide a deeper understanding of the topic. This feature is available for AI-generated responses related to subjects like STEM, economics, history, and more. By simply tapping on a term, users can quickly access definitions and further expand their knowledge on the subject. This feature is reminiscent of Bing Chat’s similar functionality that allows users to highlight text and engage in a conversation to learn more about the topic.
Coding improvements
For programming assistance, SGE now offers new capabilities to make it easier for users to understand and debug generated code. Google has introduced syntax highlights for code snippets, allowing users to easily identify different elements like keywords, comments, and strings. This color-coded feature improves code readability and comprehension, making coding tasks more manageable. With these enhancements, SGE aims to facilitate better coding practices and skills for users.
SGE while browsing
As an early experiment in Search Labs, SGE while browsing is currently available on the Google app for Android and iOS, and later on Chrome for desktop. This feature aims to enhance the browsing experience by enabling users to engage with long-form content from publishers and creators. By tapping on certain web pages, users can access an AI-generated list of key points covered in the article, with links that directly navigate to the relevant sections. Additionally, there is an “Explore on page” option that displays the questions answered in the article and allows users to jump to the corresponding section. This feature is similar to the existing content highlighting search feature, but powered by AI. Bing Chat already offers a similar feature, enabling users to tap on the Bing Chat icon while reading an article or document online and ask Chat to summarize the content. Google’s SGE while browsing feature is a step towards catching up with this functionality.
Comparison with Bing Chat
Bing Chat, a rival search tool, also provides a feature for text highlighting and summarization. By tapping the Bing Chat icon while reading an article or document, users can request the summary of the content. Google’s SGE while browsing feature, where users can access an AI-generated list of key points within an article, provides a similar functionality to Bing Chat’s summarization feature. Both features aim to simplify the consumption of information and provide users with quicker access to the key takeaways from an article.
Limitations and publisher control
While AI summaries are a valuable feature, there are some limitations to consider. The AI-generated summaries will not be available for paywalled articles. This means that if a publisher designates their content as paywalled, the AI-generated summaries will not be provided. Additionally, publishers have the option to block the feature altogether if they prefer. This allows publishers to have control over how their content is accessed and summarized.
AI summaries in other platforms
Artifact, a news reading app created by Instagram’s founders, also offers an AI summary feature. This feature was introduced in April 2023 as part of an update to the app. Artifact’s AI summary feature, alongside Google’s SGE while browsing and Bing Chat’s text highlighting and summarization, demonstrates the growing interest in using AI to provide concise and informative summaries of text across different platforms.
Availability of SGE while browsing
SGE while browsing is currently a stand-alone experiment in Search Labs. It is accessible through the Google app on Android and iOS, as well as Chrome on the desktop. The feature is gradually rolling out to users who have already opted into SGE. As Google continues to refine and develop this feature, it may become more widely available to all users in the future.
Related videos and images in generative search feature
In addition to the new updates, Google has also introduced a recent addition to SGE that shows related videos and images related to users’ search queries. This enhancement aims to provide a more comprehensive search experience by offering visual content alongside text-based results. Users can now access a richer variety of media that can aid in their understanding and exploration of different topics.
Availability of Search Labs
Search Labs, which includes the SGE while browsing feature, is accessible through the Google app on Android and iOS, as well as Chrome on the desktop. It serves as a testing ground for new search features and functionalities before they are fully integrated into the search experience. By offering access to Search Labs, Google allows users to explore and provide feedback on experimental features, influencing the future development of its search capabilities.
Original News Article – Google’s AI search experience adds AI-powered summaries, definitions and coding improvements
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