In its effort to win the AI development competition, Google has announced plans to improve its search engine's usability. The main reason for a change is its aspiration to appeal to young people who are more attracted to the visual form of displaying info. The “unspoken” goal is, of course, to enhance Google and make it more competitive against AI-powered search engines like, for example, Bing which has already shown more positive dynamics of page visits.
According to the report by the Wall Street Journal, the company intends to make its search engine more "visual, snackable, personal, and human," with a particular emphasis on appealing to the younger generation. It plans to leave behind the traditional method of displaying search results known as "10 blue links" and replace it with more human-like voice assistance and visuals
As for now, it’s unclear what technology will be used to enable AI capabilities. The first option is that Google will use its famous AI chatbot Bard, but there’s also another solution called "Magi" that is yet to be released. The tech enterprise is set to reveal new features, including "Magi," that would enable users to communicate with an AI program, at its next annual I/O developer conference.
However, not everyone in Google (and outside of it) are ambitious and content with the idea of implementing AI in all technologies. Geoffrey Hinton, the Godfather of AI, left the company earlier in May to warn us about the dangers of AI, and he’s not the only one. Other tech leaders also expressed their concerns about the rapid development of artificial intelligence and the lack of control over it.
Overall, Google's decision to improve its search engine's interface and usability is a response to the rising popularity and rivalry around AI apps. We believe it to be a concerning tendency because, in this race for the dominance over the new tech segment, giant corporations seem to overlook security issues and lack of regulations.
Just recently Meta revealed that AI can be used by scammers to spread malware. This is a great example of how the popularity of AI, especially, ChatGPT, without constant control and monitoring can cause harm and damage.
After all warnings and issues, many companies finally realized the importance of safeguards and started to create different solutions to keep AI under control. But will it be enough on its current level of development and the crazy tempos of race between tech giants? The answer is unclear.
Nevertheless, such a change in Google search definitely will bring major improvement to the visit dynamics and engine’s usability. But the company also should pay attention to the security measures to keep the search safe.
