Google is revamping Search with AI, and its CEO says there’s room for improvement.
Sundar Pichai was shown the results from a Google Search query for “best Chromebook” during an appearance on the “Decoder with Nilay Patel” podcast on Tuesday.
As Patel, the host, scrolled through the results in front of Pichai, it showed how much Google has evolved from a simple search engine — and how the company is still finetuning the role that AI plays.
Google’s AI Overview said the best option was the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714. Lower down, the first organic search result — from Reddit — had a different response.
When asked whether he thought that specific Search experience was good, Pichai had notes.
“I think it’s probably more opinionated than it should be for the particular query you showed me,” Pichai said.
Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Pichai’s perspective — that the AI Overview in this particular query shows “scope for improvement” — comes as Google takes its AI drive a step further by incorporating elements from its AI Mode and new features into Search.
These include the ability to ask follow-up questions, as well as “information agents” that can automatically run searches for users — a feature expected to roll out in the summer.
Pichai said there is “some chance” the Chromebook query has been personalized to Patel’s Search use, which is why it appears opinionated.
“You may be testing it in a way that you’re uniquely personalizing — you are the reason that query might not be exactly representative,” Pichai told Patel.
Google’s sweeping changes to Search have been criticized by some who do not want the engine to become more personalized. Others, including Business Insider’s Katie Notopoulos, have described it as a potential death knell for the internet due to the additional decline it could cause in website traffic.
It also comes at a time of growing backlash against AI, from graduates booing tech CEOs during speeches and protests about data centers.
Pichai said in the podcast episode that they had added more website links to the AI Overview since launching the feature.
“Through it all, we are very committed to both meeting user expectations and also getting them, connecting them to what’s out on the web,” Pichai said.
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