AI is Transforming Google Search, Says Co-founder Sergey Brin

Google co-founder Sergey Brin revealed how artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing search. AI is shifting from simply retrieving links to synthesizing answers by analyzing thousands of search results and conducting follow-up research. This allows AI to perform complex research tasks in minutes, tasks that would take a human days or weeks. This shift is fundamentally changing how people interact with information online.

Converging Machine Learning Models

Brin shared insights into the evolution of search algorithms. Previously, Google's search engine comprised multiple algorithms and thousands of smaller "machines" working together. Now, machine learning algorithms are converging into a single, powerful model. This unified model integrates learnings from specialized models, enhancing overall performance.

Things have been more converging…across machine learning…All of this has shifted to Transformers basically. And increasingly, it’s also just becoming one model.

Google integrates learnings from specialized models into these general models, optimizing for various tasks and languages.

We do get a lot of oomph occasionally, we do specialized models…But we are generally able to…take those learnings and basically put that capability into a general model.

The Future of Search Interfaces: Multimodal Interaction

Google is exploring new visual and audio interfaces, allowing AI to process user's visual input and provide relevant answers. Brin acknowledged that Google Glass was premature, citing immature technology. While progress has been made, battery life remains a challenge.

I kind of messed that up…the technology wasn’t ready for Google Glass…But nowadays these things I think are more sensible…there’s still battery life issues…but I think that’s a cool form factor.

Predicting the Future of AI is Challenging

Brin declined to predict the long-term future of AI, acknowledging the rapid pace of technological advancement.

When you say 10 years…a lot of people are saying, hey, the singularity is like, right, five years away. So your ability to see through that into the future…it’s very hard.

See also: Google’s CEO On What Search Will Be Like In 10 Years

Improved Response Time and Voice Search

Brin acknowledged that faster voice input response times are changing user habits. However, he noted that voice interaction isn't always ideal, citing the social awkwardness of speaking to a computer in a shared office environment.

Everything is getting better and faster…We have the big open shared offices. So during work I can’t really use voice mode too much…I just think that would be socially awkward.

AI Deep Research Synthesizes Top Search Results

Brin highlighted AI's ability to conduct deep research by analyzing vast amounts of search results and performing follow-up research. This transforms search from retrieving links to generating insights and summarizing information.

The exciting thing about AI…it’s not quite AGI yet…but it’s pretty damn smart…So I think of the superpower is when it can do things in the volume that I cannot…if it sucks down the top…thousand results and then does follow-on searches…that’s…a week of work for me.

See also: Google’s Ex-CEO on AI: What SEOs Should Pay Attention To

AI and Advertising

Brin expressed enthusiasm for advertising within a free AI tier, suggesting a tiered model where older AI generations are free while the latest remains paid.

I’m all for…really good AI advertising…our latest and greatest models…take a lot of computation…I don’t think…we’re going to just be free to everybody right off the bat.

Watch the Full Interview

Sergey Brin, Google Co-Founder | All-In Live from Miami