That memory feels like a kind of dye. At the Google I/O developer conference this week, the keynote speaker – head of search Liz Reed – officially demoted good old search to virtual oblivion. This was a continuation of a process that began two years ago, when Google introduced its “AI Overview,” its summaries that sit at the top of its search results page and literally hide above the famous “10 blue links.” By then these links had already deteriorated, so that the most relevant links were often buried under aggregator sites, spam, shopping results and Google Maps. Now, in what Reid described as the most significant change to the search box in the company’s history, users are live with the latest version of Google Gemini. Even the term “query” seems outdated, as human input is the beginning of the conversation for the AI to collaborate. The process can also include personal information that Google knows about you, which can be a lot. The answer to any query could be a personalized presentation, perhaps powered by AI agents searching for digital backdoors to scrape information. The transformation is complete. On stage, Google said it out loud: “Google Search is AI-powered search.”
The search box was a gateway to the web. The new “smart” box is a call to request for a Gemini-powered custom response to user queries, sometimes creating a bespoke mini post that sometimes contains graphs, bullet points and even animations. Google used to pride itself on interpreting obscure search terms to fulfill the user’s divine intent. She is now encouraging researchers to interact with Gemini in a series of conversations. To emphasize this change, Google representatives at the conference wore T-shirts that said “Ask Me Anything,” reflecting the claim Gemini is making. As with the computerized version, if you ask these smiling assistants for directions, the answer won’t result in a click to a website.
Our digital lives these days are at an uncomfortable transition point. AI seems to be driving every business model, and giants like Google are working to integrate AI into all their products and processes. At the same time, there is growing resistance and even revulsion as this powerful and terrifying technology makes its way into our lives. Just notice the boos when commencement speakers mention artificial intelligence. But as Google sees it, AI research – if you still want to call it that – is an imperative that even AI haters will embrace.
I was among those who backed away from providing an overview of AI in 2024. Now I concede that the overview – and the deeper “AI mode” it encourages you to use – is simply better for many things, whether it’s discovering whether Saturday Night Live Has a new episode, get a tutorial for a helper, or even find a link. When I looked up my article on WIRED where I described the meeting in Ouagadougou, the blue links were less than helpful. But when I explained in plain language what I was looking for, I found it immediately.
So it works. Google claims that more than a billion people search monthly using AI mode, a separate tab on Google’s website where links are more marginal. AI placement queries double every quarter.
