Google Search’s AI Mode: What You Need to Know
What is AI Mode?
Google has dominated the search engine market for decades. However, the rise of generative AI has presented a new form of competition — AI search engines. With its AI Mode, Google provides users with exactly that: an AI chatbot that understands and outputs conversational search queries.
How Does AI Mode Work?
AI Mode was met with such high interest that the feature went from being exclusive to Google One AI Premium users who pay $20 monthly to any Google account user via Google Labs. On Monday, Google updated it further, giving the AI multimodal capabilities and expanding access to millions more Lab users.
The AI now leverages Google Lens, the feature that allows users to upload and learn more about images on Google Search. By using Lens in AI Mode, users experience a much more in-depth visual search experience than traditional search because AI mode can understand the entire scene of an image.
What’s New with AI Mode?
According to Google, Lens can now understand specifics about an image, such as how objects relate to each other and characteristics of the image, such as shapes, colors, and materials of the objects. When a user issues a query, the AI Mode is able to assess both the image as a whole and the objects within it, providing users with more information and more contextually accurate responses.
Example Use Case
Google’s blog post gave the example of a user taking a photo of their bookshelf and asking for recommendations based on the books pictured. AI Mode was able to identify each book, then run a Search and output recommended books in a conversational response organized by the theme of the books.
How to Access AI Mode
The feature is still accessible via Google Labs, which is free to access. All you have to do is visit the site, log in with your Google account, and join the waitlist. You’ll be alerted by email when your access begins. Once you have access, you can try out this new capability in AI Mode in the Google app for Android and iOS.
What Are the Competitors?
Its biggest competitors include OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search or Perplexity AI. There are also many other AI Search engines on the market that suit different needs, and you can find ZDNET’s roundup here.
Conclusion
Google’s AI Mode is a game-changer in the world of search engines. By combining real-time web-based answers with a conversational AI interface, it offers the accuracy of a search engine and the interactivity of a chatbot.
FAQs
Q: What is AI Mode?
A: AI Mode is a feature that allows users to search for information using a conversational AI interface.
Q: How does AI Mode work?
A: AI Mode uses Google Lens to understand images and provide users with more information and contextually accurate responses.
Q: Is AI Mode available to all users?
A: Yes, AI Mode is available to all Google account users via Google Labs.
Q: How do I access AI Mode?
A: You can access AI Mode by visiting Google Labs, logging in with your Google account, and joining the waitlist.
Q: What are the competitors?
A: AI Mode’s biggest competitors include OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search or Perplexity AI, as well as other AI Search engines on the market.
