AI-generated summaries in Google Search will soon be visible to Indian users, with the tech giant announcing on Thursday (August 15) that it will expand AI summaries to markets outside the US in the coming weeks.
In addition to India, generative AI features are rolling out in the UK, Japan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Brazil. This means that users in these countries who want to search for something quickly will be presented with simplified AI-generated answers to their questions, as well as additional links to learn more about relevant topics.
Google said that AI previews in countries like India will support local language. They also launched a feature created specifically for Indian users that allows them to switch between Google search results in English or Hindi using toggle button.
Additionally, Google Search in India now comes with text-to-speech, which means users will be able to hear the information they are searching for on Google.
Controversy Surrounds AI
AI Summary ran into a problem when it launched in the US in May 2024. The feature had to be delayed after users uploaded screenshots of inaccurate and misleading answers generated by the AI. For example, the feature falsely claims that the ex US President Barack Obama is Muslim and even suggested users put glue on their pizza in another instance.
“We’ve been extensively testing how people respond to the Search updates. Since launching in the US, we’ve seen Summary AI users use Search more often and are more satisfied with the results,” Google said in a blog post published Thursday.
The company also said that the AI previews on desktop will show users a panel of links to relevant websites on the right side. The company is also trying to embed links to relevant web pages directly into the text generated in the AI previews.
“And when people click on search results pages with AI previews, those clicks are higher quality for the website, meaning users tend to spend more time on the sites they visit,” Google said.
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