Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is receiving a significant upgrade, introducing new capabilities that further enhance the AI-powered search feature. Starting today, users will be able to leverage SGE to generate images through prompts, a feature akin to Bing’s support for OpenAI’s DALLE-E 3. Additionally, SGE users can now create drafts within the conversational mode, offering customization options for length, tone, and more.
Rapid AI Development
The rapid-fire updates to SGE over the past few months reflect the accelerated pace of AI technology development. Previous enhancements include AI-powered summaries, definitions of unfamiliar terms, coding improvements, travel and product search features, and more.
The new AI image generation feature allows users to input prompts specifying the desired image type, such as a drawing, photo, or painting. SGE will return four results directly in the conversational experience, and users can download these images as .png files or modify the prompt for a new set. The technology behind this feature is Google’s Imagen text-to-image model.
This image generation capability is also extended to Google Image search. Users can create new images using prompts when scrolling through image search results, providing an additional tool to find the perfect image.
Tackling Inappropriate Content
Given concerns about inappropriate content generated by AI, Company has implemented strict filtering policies, limiting the new image generation feature to users aged 18 and older. Despite SGE recently opening up to teens in the U.S. (ages 13-17), Company is mindful of responsible technology use and aims to prevent the creation of harmful, misleading, or explicit images, as well as blocking content that violates its prohibited use policies for generative AI.
Acknowledging that AI tools may not be perfect, Google has made these features opt-in through Google Search Labs, with a feedback mechanism for users to report misuses or misfires. The tools include metadata in the generated files, indicating that they are AI-generated, and invisible watermarking powered by SynthID.
The other notable feature enhancement builds on SGE’s role as a writing assistant. Users can now receive different types of drafts, varying in length or tone, expanding the tool’s utility as a versatile writing assistant. Export options for both the new features include saving images to Google Drive and exporting drafts to Google Workspace apps like Gmail or Google Docs.
To Summarize
These features will roll out gradually, starting tomorrow for a percentage of SGE users and expanding to the wider user base over the coming weeks. The enhancements are available to users who have opted in to use SGE via Google Search Labs and are currently offered in English in the U.S., with potential expansions to other regions in the future.
