Google Launch of an Experiment with AI-Generated Search Results. What Can You Expect?

The Google Search results page format has mostly stayed the same for more than two decades: type a phrase and get a list of blue links.

Google has announced an opt-in trial for adding generative artificial intelligence (AI) to the results page, which is the most valuable real estate on the internet.

Following the runaway success of rival chatbot ChatGPT, the company that dominates the global search engine market has been under pressure to stage an AI comeback.

The tech giant unveiled part of its solution this week at its annual Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco.

For the time being, the trial is only available in the United States, but it provides a preview of what's to come for Google Search in Australia.

How do AI-generated search results appear?

Google could have followed Microsoft Bing's lead and replaced the Search results page entirely with a ChatGPT-style messaging system by incorporating generative AI into search.

Instead, it attempted to integrate AI-generated answers into the results page while retaining the list of blue links.

Google displays an "AI-powered snapshot" at the top of the Search results page.

An example of an AI-generated "snapshot" with links to the source material on the right side of the page. (Source: Google)

This is a few paragraphs long AI-generated summary with links to websites intended to corroborate the information presented.

The snapshot then displays a list of potential follow-up questions.

Another view is available, which divides the snapshot into sentences and includes a link to the information sources for each sentence.

Search results in the traditional blue link format appear below the snapshot, but they're quite far down the page.

Given that most people don't scroll down their search results (the top three results receive more than half of the clicks), the plain blue link's long reign appears to be coming to an end.

How do I register for the trial?

For the time being, the trial is restricted to Chrome Desktop and the Google App in the United States.

"We'll be opening up sign-ups for Search Labs today, with access to SGE [Search generative experience] beginning in the coming weeks," Google said in an overnight blog post.

The message "Search Labs isn't available for your account right now" is displayed to Australians.

But if you want to give it a shot, here's the waiting list.

Are there still advertisements?

Google earns roughly 80% of its revenue from advertising, the majority of which comes from Google Search.

The company has been chastised for displaying too many advertisements alongside Search results, making it more difficult for users to find the information they seek.

Unsurprisingly, advertisements will be included in the new generative AI experiment.

In one of the screenshots provided by Google, ads for commuter e-bikes appear beneath the AI snapshot, labeled "sponsored" in bold black text.

"Search ads will continue to appear in dedicated ad slots throughout the page," Google said in a blog post.

"In this new experience, advertisers will still have the opportunity to reach potential customers along their search journeys.

"We'll test and evolve the ads experience as we learn more."

Below the AI-generated "snapshot" are links to bikes for sale, and below these (not visible here) are sponsored links.

AI advancements will enable Google to improve its understanding of consumer behaviour and provide more highly targeted advertising placement, according to Paul Haskell-Dowland, a cybersecurity professor at Edith Cowan University.

"The number of advertisements may be significantly reduced," he said, "but they will be highly optimized and relevant to you as an individual."

"Google may have a more complete picture of you." 

Are the search results generated by AI accurate?

Introducing generative AI to a search engine that handles 85 percent of global search activity carries obvious risks.

Like ChatGPT and others, Google's AI chatbot Bard has had issues with factual errors and giving dangerous advice. 

Employees at Google reportedly dubbed the system a "pathological liar" and pleaded with the company not to make it public.

Then, three months after Google launched Bard, it made a factual error in one of the company's own advertisements.

Bard's generative AI model has since been replaced by another. At this week's conference, Google unveiled PaLM 2, a "next-generation language model" that it claims outperforms other leading systems on certain tasks.

PaLM 2 appears to be a significant improvement over its predecessor, but Google admits that it can still make factual errors, reinforce harmful social biases such as race or gender, and provide racist or xenophobic answers.

As a result, when rolling out PaLM 2-powered generative AI search results, Google added safeguards. Some searches or questions are off-limits to the AI search engine.

If it determines that there isn't enough reliable information on the internet to create a snapshot, it will fall back to regular search results.

You may get the same answer if you ask a question about racism, terrorism, or another potentially dangerous topic.

During the trial, Google's AI-generated search results will be closely scrutinized.

Meanwhile, Google has announced that the PaLM 2-powered Bard chatbot is now available to everyone. 

It will remove the waitlist for Bard starting next week, giving people in 180 countries access.

Will this alter the way we search?

Understanding how search engines work has a subtle influence on how we phrase our search terms.

If you're looking for something to watch, you might type "best movies 2023" into Google because you know Google is good at answering such questions.

The search engine can pull data from objective movie rankings such as Rotten Tomatoes, blog posts, and box office figures.

You'd be wary of searching for something too broad right now, such as "Where should we go on vacation?" Or too specific, such as "Where should we go on our one-week vacation this June? We're looking for a mix of relaxation and exercise without spending too much money."

Instead, you could divide this question into a dozen searches and wander around looking for ideas and inspiration.

However, one of the promises of AI-generated search results is the ability to bypass this step.

The search engine will essentially conduct multiple searches at the same time and then combine the results into a few paragraphs.

Professor Haskell-Dowland explained that we won't have to be as literal with our Google search terms.

"AI offers the ability for computers to understand what we naturally mean rather than what we write," he said.

"With generative AI, meaning can be interpreted and intent derived.", he added.

A lot is riding on Google's AI-generated search experiment, which is being shaken by the success of ChatGPT and reports that Samsung may make Bing its default search engine.

The world will continue to Google, but the way we do so will change.