Google is introducing generative AI capabilities into its Search experience (SGE) to help users find useful insights and make sense of information. SGE allows users to create images that bring ideas to life or get help on written drafts when they need a starting point. Users can search for specific images or ideas, such as creating a card for a friend who loves to cook and whose favorite animal is a capybara.
SGE provides up to four generated images in the results, which can be edited further to add more detail and bring your vision to life. If users opt in to SGE, they may also see an option to create AI-generated images directly in Google Images, designed to appear when searching for inspiration. However, Google recognizes the need to introduce this technology responsibly, building safeguards into the experience and blocking the creation of images that run counter to their prohibited use policy for generative AI, including harmful or misleading content.
The image generation capability is only available in English in the United States, to people who opted into the SGE experiment and are 18 years or older. An upcoming tool called About this image will help users assess the context and credibility of images, such as when a similar version of an image may have first been seen by Google or other pages on the web that use a similar image.
SGE also introduces written drafts for longer-running searches, allowing users to make the draft shorter or change the tone to be more casual. For example, users can ask SGE to write a note to a contractor asking for a quote to turn their garage into a home office. The draft can then be exported to Google Docs or Gmail when ready to add a personal touch.
Google believes that generative AI in Search can help spark inspiration and help users get even more done. Users can sign up and share feedback on their generative AI experiments through Search Labs in the Google app (Android and iOS) or on Chrome desktop.