Here's how Google says AI will change your search, email experience
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (KGO) -- Google is changing the online search experience. On Wednesday, Artificial Intelligence was the focus during its annual developer conference in Mountain View.
"We are at an exciting inflection point we have an opportunity to make AI even more helpful," Google CEO Sundar Pichai said.
The company unveiled AI technology in Gmail that can produce replies in seconds.
They're testing a conversational chatbot called Bard. You can prompt Bard with questions and images.
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But their biggest announcement was how AI technology will be incorporated into their search.
Today, typing in a prompt will bring up those traditional blue links.
Eventually the search will include more extensive information. It will allow you to engage in conversational mode and ask follow up questions.
AI has been around for decades but now experts say we're at a crucial moment.
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Grant Kien, a Professor of Communications for Cal State East Bay, said many people didn't think we'd live to see this day when AI is a viable product.
"This is the point in which it's becoming public, it's becoming usable at this moment," Kien said. "And it's surprising people in the general public because of the speed."
Tech giants like Google are competing and going to market fast. Professor Kien suggests users be aware and be discerning of AI content.
"Big tech is not going to rescue us from anything they are in business," Kien said. "Whatever business model is working for their stock prices is what they will pursue. So we cannot just blindly trust these companies but at the same time we do want to use these things, this is why they're popular."
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He said holding companies accountable is important.
"I would say keep learning," Kien said. "Don't ignore it. It's here and we have to own it because this is the world we live in. And we can't just forfeit our responsibility to machines. We can use machines to help us. We can use AI to help us, but we also need to know what AI really is so that we can maintain control over it."
The new Google search will be rolling out in the next few weeks as an experiment, so if people want to join a waitlist you can sign up here.
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