Google has announced that it is opening up its generative AI search experience, known as SGE (Search Generative Experience), to teenagers aged 13-17 in the United States. In addition to this, the company is adding new features to enhance user experience and improve safety.
Key Takeaway
Google is opening up its generative AI search experience, SGE, to teenagers aged 13-17 in the United States, allowing them to ask questions in a conversational manner and explore information in more depth. The company is also introducing new features to provide users with more context about the generated responses and is actively working on improving the accuracy of AI-generated responses, particularly when it comes to false or offensive queries.
Conversational Mode to Enhance Search Experience
The SGE introduces a conversational mode to Google Search, allowing users to ask questions in a more conversational manner. This feature will enable teenagers to ask questions they may not typically get answered by a regular search engine and engage in follow-up queries to explore information in more depth.
Starting this week, teenagers in the United States who are signed into a Google Account can sign up for Search Labs to access the AI search experience through the Google app or Chrome desktop.
Ensuring Safety and Preventing Inappropriate Content
Google emphasizes the importance of safety when expanding the AI search experience to teenagers. The company has implemented guardrails and stronger protections to prevent inappropriate or harmful content from being surfaced. Safeguards are in place to avoid outputs related to illegal substances, age-restricted content, and instances of bullying.
More Context with “About this Result”
New features have been added to provide users with more context about the content they see. Google is introducing an “About this result” notice, similar to the standard Google Search experience, to the AI search experience. This notice will help users better understand how SGE generated the response and provide insights into the underlying technology.
In the future, Google plans to extend “About this result” to individual links included in SGE responses, allowing users to gain a deeper understanding of the web pages supporting the information in AI-powered overviews.
Improving Accuracy and Addressing False or Offensive Queries
Google acknowledges the need for targeted improvements in the AI search experience. One specific area of focus is addressing false or offensive premise queries. The company is rolling out updates to train the AI model to better detect and respond to these types of queries, in order to provide higher-quality and more accurate responses. Google is also exploring using large language models to critique and rewrite their own initial draft responses on sensitive topics based on quality and safety principles.
This announcement follows Google’s recent updates to the AI search experience, including support for videos, images, local information, travel recommendations, and the integration of ads alongside AI-generated responses.
