Google's AI Mode gets better at understanding visual prompts

Since it began rolling out AI Mode at the start of March, Google has been slowly adding features to its dedicated search chatbot. Today, the company is releasing an update it hopes will make the tool more useful for visual searches. If you've tried to use AI Mode since Google made it available to everyone in the US, you may have noticed it responds to questions about images with a lot of text. Robby Stein, vice president of product for Google Search, admits it can be "silly" to see so much text in that context, and so the company has been working on applying AI Mode's "query fan-out" technique to images. Now, when you prompt AI Mode to find you images of "moody but maximalist" bedrooms for instance, it's better equipped to respond to that request, with an algorithm that will run multiple searches in the background to get a better understanding of exactly what it is you're looking to find. Google has built this feature to be multimodal, meaning you can start a conversation with an image or video. And as you can probably guess, the search giant believes these capabilities will be particularly useful in a shopping context. You could use AI Mode to shop before today, but Google argues the experience benefits greatly from the more visual responses the chatbot is able to generate. What's more, it's better able to make sense of tricky queries like "find me barrel jeans that aren't too baggy." Once AI Mode generates an initial response, you can ask follow-up questions to refine your search. For instance, using the above example, you might ask for jeans “with more ankle length,” and Google says AI Mode will be able to help you find something that matches. As with any update, it may take a few days for Google to roll out the updates it announced today to everyone. So be patient if you don't see the new, more visual experience right away.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/googles-ai-mode-gets-better-at-understanding-visual-prompts-123343524.html?src=rss