Subj : I tried Googles new Search Live feature and ended up debating an To : All From : TechnologyDaily Date : Sat Jun 21 2025 02:45:07 I tried Googles new Search Live feature and ended up debating an AI about books Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2025 01:30:00 +0000 Description: Googles Search Live turns simple queries into voice chats, complete with philosophical tangents. FULL STORY ======================================================================Googles new Search Live feature lets users hold real-time voice conversations with an AI-powered version of Search The Gemini-powered AI attempts to simulate a friendly and knowledgeable human. Google is keen to have all roads lead to Gemini, and Search Live could help entice people to try the AI companion without realizing it Google's quest to incorporate its Gemini into everything has a new outlet linked to its most central product. The new Google Search Live essentially gives Google Search's AI Mode a Gemini-powered voice. Its currently available to users in the U.S. via the Google app on iOS and Android, and it invites you to literally talk to your search bar. You speak, and it speaks back; unlike the half-hearted AI assistants of yesteryear, this one doesnt stop listening after just one question. Its a full dialogue partner, unlike the non-verbal AI Mode. It also works in the background, which means I could leave the app during the chat to do something else on my phone, and the audio didnt pause or glitch. It just kept going, as if I were on the phone with someone. Google refers to this system as query fan-out, which means that instead of just answering your question, it also quietly considers related queries, drawing in more diverse sources and perspectives. You feel it, too. The answers dont feel boxed into a single form of response, even on relatively straightforward queries like the one about linen dresses in Google's demo. AI Search Live To test Search Live out, I tapped the Live icon and asked for speculative fiction books I should read this summer. The genial voice offered a few classic and a few more recent options. I then opened Pandora's box by asking it about its own favorites. Surprisingly, it had a few. I then decided to push it a bit and tell it it was wrong about the best fantasy books and listed a few of my own. Suddenly, I found myself in a debate not only about the best examples of the genre, but also about how to define it. We segued from there to philosophical and historical opinions about elvish empathy and whether AI should be compared to genies or the mythical brownies that do housework in exchange for cream. Were it not for the smooth, synthetic voice and its relentless good cheer, I might have thought I was actually having an idle argument with an acquaintance over nothing important. It's obviously very different from the classic Google Search and its wall of links. If you look at the screen, you still see the links, but the focus is on the talk. Google isn't unique with a vocal version of its AI, as ChatGPT and others proffer similar features. Google Search Live does come off as smoother, and I didn't have to rephrase my questions or repeat myself once in 10 minutes. Being integrated with Googles actual search systems might help keep things grounded. Its like talking to someone who always has a stack of citations in their back pocket. I don't think Search Live is what people will use to replace their usual online search methods, but heres a real accessibility benefit to it. For people who cant comfortably type or see, voice-first tools like this open new doors. Same goes for kids asking homework questions, or for someone cooking dinner who has a random question but doesn't want to pause to wipe flour off their screen. Theres a tradeoff, of course, in terms of how people browse the web. If this kind of conversational AI becomes the dominant interface for search on Google, what happens to web traffic? Publishers already feel like theyre shouting into the void when their content is skimmed by AI and hiring lawyers to fight it. What will the AI search if its sources shrink or vanish? It's a complicated question, worthy of debate. I'll have to see how Search Live lays out the arguments. You might also like I've been using Google's new AI mode for Search here's how to master it Heres why you should be excited about Audio Overviews coming to Google Search Googles AI Mode can explain what youre seeing even if you cant ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/artificial-intelligence/i-tried-googles-ne w-search-live-feature-and-ended-up-debating-an-ai-about-books --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Technology News (1337:1/100) .