Google’s latest AI trick is summarizing long web pages

Google is testing a new capability for its generative AI in search that will make it a more veritable rival to Microsoft’s AI Copilot in Edge. The tech giant has launched an early experiment for its generative AI-powered Search experience (SGE) that breaks out of Search itself. Called “SGE while browsing,” the feature can quickly generate the most salient points of long-form content found on the web. The tech giant positions it as a tool you can use to more easily digest complex topics that might require extensive research. However, the tool will not be able to provide key points for paywalled articles, only for some web pages that you can view free of charge. 

Whenever Google’s AI can generate key points for the page you’re visiting, you’ll see an option that says “Get AI-generated key points” at the bottom of the screen on mobile or in the sidebar on desktop. Each key point links straight to the part of the page it’s referencing, so you can jump to it right away. There’s also an “Explore on page” section that shows the questions the article answers. At the moment, the feature is only available within the Google app on Android and iOS, but it is coming to Chrome on desktop in the next few days. The tool is automatically switched on if you’ve already opted in to try out SGE, but you can also switch it on as a standalone experiment in Search Labs. Like any other experiment, it could evolve over time, depending on testers’ feedback. 

Google will also soon roll out a new feature that could help you get better acquainted with new concepts and terms related to STEM, economics, history and other topics. To be more precise, it’s improving its AI-generated responses to those topics, so that when you hover over certain words, you’ll see previews of definitions and related diagrams or images. It could provide a quick way for you to understand its AI’s answers to your questions without having to do a deep-dive for all the concepts you aren’t familiar with. 

Finally, if you’re a programmer who’s not opposed to using AI tools for coding, Google has also added new capabilities to SGE that could help you better understand and debug the codes it generates. Starting today, elements like keywords, comments and strings will be color-coded and highlighted in segments of codes in overviews, so that you can quickly parse the AI’s output and determine if it will work as intended.