How Google is Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Improve Search

AI is one of the most exciting technologies out there, and Google executives agree. In fact, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet, recently released an announcement about the growth of this particular area. Calling AI the “most profound technology we are working on today,” he shared his belief that AI can help businesses achieve their full potential and unlock opportunities throughout the world. In this post, we are breaking down the latest news from Google around AI. 

Introducing BARD

Pichai shared that over the past 6 years, Google has re-oriented their company around AI. Leadership sees AI as the most important way that Google can deliver on its mission “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Since then Google has made serious investments in AI across the board, with the latest advancements coming recently.

In the announcement, Pichai states “ Today, the scale of the largest AI computations is doubling every six months, far outpacing Moore’s Law. At the same time, advanced generative AI and large language models are capturing the imaginations of people around the world. In fact, our Transformer research project and our field-defining paper in 2017, as well as our important advances in diffusion models, are now the basis of many of the generative AI applications you’re starting to see today.”

With the goal of translating deep research and technological breakthroughs into products that truly help people, Google has been working on next-generation language and conversation capabilities powered by their Language Model for Dialogue Applications (or LaMDA for short). The experimental conversational AI service, powered by LaMDA, is called Bard. In the announcement from Google, the CEO said that they are opening it up to trusted testers before making it widely available to the public. Stating that Bard “seeks to combine the breadth of the world’s knowledge with the power, intelligence, and creativity of our large language models”, it draws on information from the web to provide responses that are timely and high-quality. You can use Bard to simplify complex topics or even just to get new lunch venue suggestions. Right now, Bard is being released with the lightweight model version of LaMDA, which requires significantly less computing power and allows for more users. At this stage of the process, Google will combine external feedback with its own internal testing to make sure Bard’s responses meet a high standard for quality, safety, and accuracy. 

Improving Google Products with AI

At the same time, Google will continue to build on its long history of using AI to improve search. BERT, one of the first Transformer models, was instrumental in understanding the intricacies of human language. Then, two years ago, Google introduced MUM, which is 1,000 times more powerful than BERT and has a more multilingual understanding of information. The latest AI technologies are building on this and introducing entirely new ways of engaging with information. One of the larger goals of Google is to continue utilizing AI across searches. 

For example, one of the most exciting opportunities presented by AI is the ability to deepen our understanding of information and turn it into useful knowledge more efficiently. Meaning, it will be easier for everyday searchers to get to the heart of the information they’re looking for, and get things done faster. AI is particularly helpful in cases where there is no “right” answer. The goal is to instill AI-powered features in search that distill complex information and different perspectives into information that is simple to digest. 

Takeaway: 

At the end of the day, Google is constantly evolving and AI is one of its big areas of focus. AI can be used to bring more complex information to wider audiences, and with each new product release, Google is doing more with the technology. Exciting things are on the horizon for search marketers! It’s critical that digital marketers stay up to date on what is happening with Google and other technology players that impact search and online experience. Make sure to follow our blog, where we always share the latest and greatest information for legal marketers.