Benefits and a Warning for Older Adults About Google’s New AI Search

Then I entered my own query, “How can I entertain an elderly parent living alone?” The AI Overview summary segmented the answer into games and puzzles; TV, movies or music; video calling; and social media. I had to scroll down the page to find related “People also ask …” queries and farther down still to find familiar blue links.

Folks can take advantage of Google’s revamped search across all the places they normally search, meaning desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

Refine your scenario. The bot changes its answer

Google soon will add AI-generated planning tools that will let you search along the lines of “Create a 5-day meal plan for my grandparents with easy-to-prepare low-salt recipes from across the web.” After the initial query, you might refine the search with “Make all the dinner recipes vegetarian but avoid onions.”

Wondering what to search for? Google can brainstorm

Sometimes you’re not exactly sure what to ask Google. Another upcoming search feature, dubbed “AI-organized” results, may help you brainstorm. Say you’re looking to celebrate a milestone birthday or anniversary. Google will categorize search results under AI-generated headlines.

For example, if you want ideas for where to go for a 25th anniversary dinner, you may find results under romantic steakhouses, historic charm and elegance, live music and intimate settings, and rooftop patios for dates. Google plans to initially roll out the AI-organized feature around dining and recipes, followed by movies, music, books, hotels and shopping.

Can’t describe a thingamajig? Show Gemini a video

Later this year, you’ll also be able to search using video. Google outlined how this might work.

Say someone bought a record player at a thrift store but found that the metal piece with the needle — the person doesn’t know what this part is called — is drifting. Complicating the problem: The buyer doesn’t know the make or model number of the record player, much less how to fix it.

Rather than try to explain the problem in detail, the person uploads a video and asks Google, “Why does this thing not stay in place?” The hope is you’ll get an AI Overview with troubleshooting steps.

Google can analyze, categorize your photos

People take and share lots of photos these days, in large part because they have a smartphone with a camera at their fingertips. But finding the photos you need quickly can mean taking a lot of time to tag images yourself.

Traditional search has gotten better at finding famous people or locales in a virtual pile of digital images. But everyday stuff? Not so much. An experimental Gemini search called Ask Photos that is coming to Google Photos this summer can help.

Chief executive Sundar Pichai described a couple of scenarios. In one, you’re at a parking garage ready to pay but have to supply the car’s license plate number. You can’t remember it.

Previously, you might have entered keywords to try to pore over multiple automotive images inside Google Photos and maybe find one that shows your license plate. But the Ask Photos feature lets Google find it for you, using AI to analyze location and other data. If successful, you’ll receive a text with the license number and picture.

Pichai also said you might explore the feature to reminisce about your daughter’s swimming lessons: “When did Lucia learn to swim?” Then you can follow up with something more complex: “Show me how Lucia’s swimming has progressed.”

Gemini will search Google Photos to surface pics of her swimming laps in the pool, snorkeling in the ocean and receiving a swimming certificate, packaged in a summary that will help you reflect.

Traditional search still works, Google says

Not every search query will lend itself to an AI Overview result. That’s left for the more complex searches. And expect to hear people ponder the amount of information Google has on each of us.

But the fundamental shifts in search are likely permanent. Stamford, Connecticut-based Gartner research predicted this year that by 2026, search engine volume will fall by 25 percent because of the efficiency of AI chatbots.