Google Chrome’s latest AI feature could be bad news for bloggers
Google continues to sprinkle AI into its product line with a new feature for its Search Generative Experience (SGE), where Google’s Chrome web browser summarizes the articles you read. Currently, SGE already summarizes your search results so you don’t have to scroll forever, but with this new feature you get a little more help after clicking the link.
According to a Google blog post announcing the new feature, we won’t immediately see the new feature, which Google has dubbed “SGE while browsing”. The summary generated will be rolled out next Tuesday as an “early experiment” within the opt-in Search Labs, a program that allows people to experiment with early experiences with Google Search and share feedback. Interestingly, it will be available on mobile before the Chrome browser on desktop, so keep your eyes peeled as you Google on Android or iOS.
As you can see, the little pop-up appears as you scroll through a blog page or article, and you can see what Google’s tool thinks the main points of the page are. Clicking on a highlighted point will take you to that paragraph in the article.
The edge notes that the feature “only works on articles that are freely available to the public on the Internet,” so you won’t see it on websites or articles that are behind a paywall.
There are a few other smaller features that will also be introduced through the SGE, such as the ability to hover over certain words and see definitions or charts (usually for scientific, economic, or historical topics).
Should bloggers be concerned?
This feature can certainly be super useful, especially if you are looking for concise information really quickly. However, it could be bad news for the people writing the content and I don’t think Google took that into account.
If you’ve put time and energy into really fleshing out your article, giving your topic context and personality, and people only getting summaries and skipping them, it can be daunting. Especially if you’re writing about sensitive or serious topics, if the summaries generated omit crucial information, people may just go along with the points presented and leave something important or useful (such as mixing cleaning supplies or medication information).
Content creators may not be happy with the new change and the way this CEO could be Sundar Pichai said that “over time this will just be how Search works” so I guess we’ll have to get used to it.