Google has never optimized search to “trap” people on its pages and has always prioritized helping users find what they are looking for, said Pandu Nayak, Google’s chief search scientist, in conversation with the reporter, during his visit to São Paulo at the Google for Brazil event.
The statement came after a question about the idea that the new experience with AI (artificial intelligence) could make the public spend more time on the search engine, causing people to access the authors of information less, such as journalistic websites. Nayak stated that the product’s logic follows another direction.
“We’ve never had a metric to keep people searching. It’s never been optimized for that. We’ve always optimized to help users get what they want,” he said.
According to him, the recent changes follow this same spirit: allowing people to ask the question “that’s on their mind”. From there, they can ask additional questions to clarify points and delve deeper into the subject. Next, Nayak said that Google “really believes” in the web ecosystem and that it sees the internet as having its own “richness”, as it is a space in which people publish and connect with others.
“Of all the technology companies, Google, more than anyone else, really believes in the web ecosystem. Personally, I believe in the web ecosystem, and so does Google, because I think the web has a certain richness that no one else has. It’s the place where people can come and say things. People want to connect with people,” Nayak said.
Chief scientist says Google sends billions of clicks every day to websites. He also states that the platform has tested different ways to highlight the sources used in AI-generated answers, such as side links, groups of links or even news highlights in searches. For him, the objective is for the user to start with the answer and then use the links displayed to delve deeper.
“We go to great lengths to highlight the links that are used in constructing these responses. We are actively experimenting with different ways of bringing these links to light,” he says.
Google is investigated in Europe and Brazil for its use of AI responses. Here, Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense) wants to understand the impact on vehicle traffic and revenue in the AI Overview (when AI answers are displayed) and AI Mode (when answers to complex questions are displayed). At the European Commission, the company is accused of unfair competitive advantage (by using third-party content to improve its own products without any compensation) and impact on publishers (by reducing website traffic).
CHATGPT AND AGENTIC SEARCH
Asked whether the popularity of ChatGPT influenced Google, the executive says that he had been using AI for years “behind the scenes” and that OpenAI’s difference was bringing this to the public. He mentions that Google used artificial intelligence in RankBrain, an algorithm that helps understand search intent, and Bert, a context expert system, which helps understand sentence structures – two systems that help understand what people want to find. Google’s research team was also responsible for the “transformer” architecture, which is the basis of the LLMs (Large Language Models) behind the world’s leading AI chatbots.
What really came ‘forward’ (for the public) was generative AI. We took the most modern and brought it to search for our users. Our focus really is on helping users get high-quality, relevant information back when they search.Pandu Nayak
Even as head of the search area, the executive says he is still surprised by the resources. He stated, for example, that he is interested in space exploration – before Google, he worked at NASA developing an AI system to control spacecraft remotely. Recently, he went to research the topic and the search asked if he wanted to be notified when new information on the topic came out.
“I found it fascinating that the search asked me to set up an information agent to update me on the topic,” said Nayak.
Presented during Google I/O, an event for Google developers in May, the agentic search feature is not yet available in Brazil. Despite the “complex” name, it is literally when the search performs tasks for you. In addition to information agents (such as the one that allows you to set a reminder about a topic), the system can, for example, make restaurant reservations on your behalf and even make purchases for you. For now, these systems are mostly available in the United States.
Source: www.noticiasaominuto.com.br
Source link
