Google is reshuffling the reporting structure of its virtual assistant unit — called Assistant — to focus more on Bard, the company’s new artificial intelligence chat technology.
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The new leadership changes suggest that the Assistant organization may be planning on integrating Bard technology into similar products in the future.
The most critical advantage Google, Amazon, and Apple have over OpenAI is that they all have existing smart assistants integrated into customer’s devices. I would love to see Google take the lead in upgrading their assistant with generative AI capabilities.
Miles Kruppa, Wall Street Journal:
Google plans to add conversational artificial-intelligence features to its flagship search engine, Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai said
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“Will people be able to ask questions to Google and engage with LLMs in the context of search? Absolutely,” Mr. Pichai said.
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Google is testing several new search products, such as versions that allow users to ask follow-up questions to their original queries, Mr. Pichai said. The company said last month that it would begin “thoughtfully integrating LLMs into search in a deeper way,” but until now hadn’t detailed plans to offer conversational features.
I don’t know… I haven’t used Bing as an “AI search engine” in at least a month. Language models—while adjacent to traditional search engines—are an entirely new technology. As time goes on, I am less convinced integrating them into existing products is the best approach.
Maybe, when it comes to search, Google should strive to make the best search engine it can. Down-rank SEO spam, improve operators, and innovate with new features. Don’t reimagine search, refine search.
To be clear, I think they should continue to develop and improve Bard—but let it be its own thing, don’t just thoughtlessly tack it onto all of your old stuff.