Similar to how every platform has been turning its focus to short-form video over the past few years, attention is now turning to AI chatbots, with Google being the latest to add a ChatGPT style interface to Search, as a means to capitalize on rising interest.
As you can see in this example, Google’s “AI Mode” in Google Search enables you to take a more conversational approach to web discovery, with a ChatGPT-like UI, that you can converse with like a know-it-all human.
Google began testing its AI Mode with approved testers back in March, and it’s now expanding access to all Google Labs users in the U.S.
As per Google:
“Millions of people are using AI Mode in Labs to search in new ways – asking longer, harder questions, using follow-up questions to hone in on what they really want to know, and discovering new websites and businesses along the way. Based on the incredibly positive feedback we’re getting, we’re removing the waitlist so anyone in the U.S. can now get immediate access to AI Mode in Labs.”
So it seems that there’s been enthusiasm for Google’s AI answers, which are powered by its evolving Gemini AI systems.
There’s been so much interest, in fact, that Google’s also making it available to regular Google users as well, with a selection of non-Labs users in the U.S. to get access to the option on the coming weeks.
This comes on the heels of Meta launching its own standalone AI app, which enables users to converse with Meta AI, and X launching a standalone Grok app.
Generative AI is fast becoming a key discovery element, though Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also noted this week that a common usage they’re seeing with Meta AI is that people are using it as a sounding board to converse with.
As per Zuck:
“Already, one of the main things we see people using Meta AI for is talking through difficult conversations that they need to have with people in their lives; ‘I’m having this issue with my girlfriend. Help me have this conversation,’ or, ‘I need to have a hard conversation with my boss at work, how do I have that conversation?’ That’s pretty helpful. As the personalization loop kicks in and the AI starts to get to know you better and better, that will just be really compelling.”
It feels like Google’s AI, built into Search, will have a more definitive discovery purpose, which Google feeding in product info from Google Shopping listings in order to also help people find relevant items for their queries.
Though it is interesting to consider how different apps could fall into different usage brackets in this respect.
For example, some people already associate AI with ChatGPT, and some have set personal parameters in that app, which now provides them with customized, personalized answers. As such, they may be less likely to switch to, say, Meta AI, while Meta AI, as noted, could be viewed as more of a social tool than Google’s AI Mode, due to how people view Meta and Facebook more broadly.
It’ll be interesting to see how people use each AI tool, and what the most common questions are to each. Are people asking more topical questions to Grok? Are they seeking more product info on Google?
I do think that the context within which these tools are presented will matter in this respect, though the one that wins out will likely be the one that get best attune itself to each person’s individual preferences.
You’d assume Meta would be best placed in that respect, using your Facebook and IG info to customize your responses, while Google has never really been great at this aspect.
We’ll have to wait and see what the usage behaviors show.
Google’s also adding some new tricks to AI Mode, including visual place and product cards (which you can tap through on for more info), and the capacity to resume past searches via a new side panel.
It’s interesting to see how each app is approaching the AI shift, and the tools they’re development for such, and again, it’ll also be worth noting how people use each app, and whether they do start to merge their engagement towards one main AI tool.