Google recently announced that it will be adding artificial intelligence (AI) to its search engine.
This new feature, called A.I. Overviews, will provide a summary of the topic you search for, along with links for more information.
Traditional search results will still be available below these overviews, but A.I. Overviews aim to give you faster answers by analyzing various pieces of information.
Some web publishers are worried that this might reduce traffic to their websites since users may not need to click on as many links to get their answers.
Currently, A.I. Overviews are only available for certain topics and only for users in the United States.
However, Google plans to make this feature accessible to over a billion people worldwide by the end of the year.
Kristian Hammond, a computer science professor at Northwestern University and an expert in AI, shared his thoughts on Google’s new feature.
He believes that while integrating AI with search is a great idea, it’s not quite ready yet. Hammond warns that launching this feature too soon could have negative effects.
Hammond explained that AI technology, like the one Google is using, still needs more testing to ensure it doesn’t spread false information.
The new AI search might block some content or present information without helping users decide which sources are more reliable.
One major concern is that we won’t know what content is being blocked. AI models like Gemini and ChatGPT often filter out content they consider dangerous or offensive.
Without understanding how these decisions are made, we won’t know what information is being kept from us, which could be risky.
Another issue is the impact on content creators. The new AI search feature will provide information directly from other websites without directing users to those sites.
This could reduce the number of visitors to these sites, threatening their survival. Content creators, who provide the information that trains these AI models, might not benefit from their work.
Hammond also pointed out that tech companies are in a rush to add new features, leading to what he calls a “feature war.”
These additions aren’t always major innovations but are released rapidly, distracting us until the next feature comes along. This competition among tech companies turns us into test subjects for their products, leaving little time to evaluate them properly.
In summary, while Google’s new AI-powered search feature promises to make finding information faster and easier, there are concerns about its readiness, potential censorship, and the impact on content creators.
As this feature rolls out, it will be important to watch how it affects our search experiences and the broader internet landscape.
