Nico Grant, The New York Times:
A.I. competitors like the new Bing are quickly becoming the most serious threat to Google’s search business in 25 years, and in response, Google is racing to build an all-new search engine powered by the technology.
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The new features, under the project name Magi, …would offer users a far more personalized experience than the company’s current service, attempting to anticipate users’ needs.
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The system would learn what users want to know based on what they’re searching when they begin using it. And it would offer lists of preselected options for objects to buy, information to research and other information… Magi would keep ads in the mix of search results. Search queries that could lead to a financial transaction
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Last week, Google invited some employees to test Magi’s features… Google is expected to release the tools to the public next month and add more features in the fall, according to the planning document.
I have been critical of Google’s AI strategy. Generative AI is a fundamentally new technology; therefore, you should allow that to guide you into new products that were impossible or impractical previously. Attempting to shoehorn AI into existing products will be awkward, at best.
While we don’t know many details of what Magi will ultimately look like, I am pleasantly surprised Google appears to be taking a blank-slate approach to its design and development.
I would love to see Google bring back the strategy they used with Inbox—create a playground to experiment with new ideas, unencumbered by tradition. When the time was right, Google took what they learned from Inbox and integrated it into Gmail. Maybe Magi will ultimately be merged into Google Search. Even so, Magi still would have played a valuable role as a test lab. If I am right, though, and generative AI will be most successful as a new product, Google would be well positioned for that, too.