The Future of Google: An AI-Powered Assistant That Does All the Googling for You

Goodbye Googling, Hello Research with Gemini
Google is transforming the way we search, and the latest innovation, ‘Research with Gemini’, is a game-changer. This AI-powered tool searches Google for you and organizes the results into a Google Doc. At the Made by Google event, an example question was: “I’m thinking of opening a sidewalk café in Seattle. Help me research what I need to do.” You can see it in action in our video below.

When Gemini detects that you need detailed research, it starts by creating a multi-step research plan. Once you approve it, the assistant will “curate information from across the web” in a “continuous reasoning loop”.

In other words, it will handle the Googling for you, compiling all relevant information into a well-organized Google Doc with sections and sub-heads. Google is excited about this, calling Research with Gemini “a big step forward in our mission to organize the world’s information”.

The launch date is still uncertain – Google has said it will be available to Gemini Advanced users (costing $20 / £19 / AU$30 a month) “in the coming months”. We might see it sometime this year.

The Caveats
Research with Gemini seems like the future of Google. Instead of a sea of blue links, this AI feature promises to quickly sift through the web, including sub-pages and drop-down menus, much faster than traditional Googling. As Google claimed at its event, “what used to take you hours, now takes minutes”.

However, there are some significant caveats. Firstly, Google has glossed over the mistakes and ‘hallucinations’ that it explains in Gemini’s FAQ section – this technology still makes major errors, so it might be more of a starting point for research.

Additionally, Research with Gemini requires substantial computing power, which is why it’s initially available only to Gemini Advanced users. Scaling it to a broader audience remains unclear, but Google is being pushed in that direction by competitors like OpenAI’s SearchGPT.

Regardless, the meaning of ‘Googling’ is changing rapidly – and Research with Gemini offers a fascinating glimpse into the future of Google Search.