Google is bringing AI‑generated summaries to Discover, the personalized stream of articles and videos found in the Google app curated based on a user's interests. The search giant remains undeterred by the imperfect nature of AI Overviews, or what it might mean for publishers whose content largely makes up Google's search results.
TechCrunch has reported that some Android and iOS users in the US are seeing cards containing AI‑generated summaries on their Discover page. These cards appear with news sites’ logos in the top left of the card, with an accompanying snippet that is presumably generated from the body or headlines of those publishers’ content. When users tap "see more," the card expands to show all the contributing articles for the summary. Each summary card carries a warning that it was generated by AI, which it notes "can make mistakes."
A Google spokesperson told TechCrunch that this is a US launch of a new feature, not a test. The feature will first focus on trending lifestyle topics like sports and entertainment. In speaking with TechCrunch, Google claimed the summaries would make it easier for people to decide which pages they want to visit, though publishers are already vocal that Google’s AI tools are tanking clickthrough traffic. Some estimates say as many as 64 percent of search results that include AI Overviews end without a click.
Google has been aggressively rolling out AI‑powered features. Tools like AI Overviews, AI mode in Search and AI‑generated video summary represent, in part, Google’s determination to maintain its user base in the face of would‑be search‑engine replacements like ChatGPT.
The pace of this new rollout was not made clear.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/google-adds-ai-generated-summaries-to-discover-144341141.html?src=rss
