Google LLC is planning to revamp its core search engine to deliver more “visual, snackable, personal and human” results with a focus on serving young people, according to internal documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

The shift by Google will, not unsurprisingly in 2023, include results that incorporate generative artificial intelligence as Google’s decades-long dominance in search is being challenged. Challengers to what was once considered impossible – taking on Google search, include AI startups and Microsoft Corp.’s Bing, the latter of which includes AI results through Microsoft’s partnership and investment with OpenAI LP, the creators of ChatGPT.

The internal documents claim that Google will show more short videos and social media posts in its search results, shifting away from what internally is known as the “10 blue links,” the links presented when using Google search. Incorporating more “human voices” is also said to be part of a shift to support content creators in the same way Google Search has historically done with websites.

The document is also said to discuss plans for Google Search to place greater emphasis on responding to queries that traditional web results can’t easily answer. Search results could include follow-up questions and visuals, such as TikTok videos, in response to queries. “More than answers, we’ll help you when there’s no right answer,” Google executives state in the documents.

Although the changes do seem somewhat radical, the same Google executives also emphasized that search products using conversational AI features should not upset website owners, in part by including source links.

At least some of the new features are expected to be announced at the annual Google I/O developer conference starting on May 10. The Journal report also says Google will debut an AI project code-named “Magi” at the event, that will allow users to carry out conversations with an AI bot.

Magi, which was first detailed in a report by The New York Times in April, is said to have already been tested by a large group of employees prior to the I/O Conference. The feature is said to offer users a far more personalized experience than the company’s current service, attempting to anticipate users’ needs.

It’s not clear from reports if there is any relationship, other than ownership, between Magi and Google’s Bard, Google’s first generative AI tool that launched in February.

Bard, unfortunately for Google, will likely be remembered for years as one of the worst product launches in recent memory, with the chatbot giving a wrong answer to a question during the launch demonstration. Perhaps never before has a wrong answer been so costly, with Google losing $120 billion off its market cap after the launch debacle. Whatever Google has planned for I/O, it will unlikely make the same mistake twice.

Photo: Shrijagannatha/Wikimedia Commons