This was Google’s biggest group of AI news yet. With all the travel-related demonstrations, the sector is clearly top of mind throughout development.
Summarize Tale
Google announced a number of AI improvements during its annual I/O developer conference Tuesday, with travel-related demos for many of them.
It’s the largest travel-related AI update since the 2015 conference, where Google introduced a trip planner for the Gemini chatbot, which the company later told Skift it was no longer pursuing.
The latest Search upgrades were among a multitude of product announcements on Tuesday, including:
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Smart glasses, with plans for live voice translation and a connection to Maps for real-time navigation.
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AI-generated responses in Gmail to create and share plans, which take into account information from emails and other apps.
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Near real-time voice translation in Google Meet, which the company said could be useful when making travel bookings in other countries.
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A new Gemini chatbot extension for Chrome that allows users to reference a page during prompts, such as asking the AI to compare multiple hotel reviews.
The big Search upgrade comes through AI Mode, which the company said would roll out to everyone in the U.S. on Tuesday.
“AI Mode is where we will first bring our frontier capabilities into Search,” said Google CEO Sundar Pichai during the conference on Tuesday.
Google began testing AI Mode in March. It’s an evolution of AI Summaries, the AI-generated summaries that started appearing atop some search results last year.
AI Mode is shown as a tab in Search alongside other tabs like Images, and also appears in the search bar in the Google app. As AI Mode evolves, certain features will be integrated directly into the regular Search experience, the company said.
“This is the future of Google Search, a search that goes beyond information to understanding,” said Liz Reid, head of Search for Google, during the announcement Tuesday.
Below is a deeper look into Google’s AI search enhancements as they relate to travel.
Liz Reid, head of Search for Google, demos AI Mode.
AI Mode is more advanced, which means users can perform complex searches in one go, the company said.
Google’s example: “Things to do in Nashville this weekend with friends, we’re big foodies who like music but also more chill vibes and exploring off the beaten path.”
Behind the scenes, the AI understands a complex prompt, breaking it into different topics to run multiple queries at once.
The prompt: “Things to do in Nashville this weekend with friends, we’re big foodies who like music but also more chill vibes and exploring off the beaten path.” Source: Google.
With the Deep Dive feature in AI Mode, users should be able to ask more complicated questions, resulting in hundreds of queries. Google’s example: “Help me research affordable summer camps within a 10-minute drive for my 9- and 6-year-olds. Include camp dates and schedules, prices, aftercare options, activities offered like hiking, swimming, STEM, etc., application deadlines, and parent reviews. Recommend which is best if I only need camp for July, the older one likes science, the other likes sports, they don’t have to be the same camp, just close to each other.”
Coming this summer, Google plans to allow the AI to access Gmail and past search history, if the user grants permission. This is intended to generate even more personalized results during trip planning, for example.
Based on past searches, it might recognize that the user prefers outdoor seating at restaurants. And if the AI sees the user subscribes to gallery newsletters, it will be more likely to suggest art exhibits.
Also, the AI should be able to see emailed flight and hotel confirmations and build an itinerary based on their timing and where the user is staying.
Users should be able to share live video in Search and chat with the AI about what it’s seeing.
Search Live will come within the AI Mode tab starting this summer, Google said.
Google did not demo a travel-related feature for this. But Google has previously shown that the technology can recognize landmarks and provide information about them. The company also says the technology can translate text in over 100 languages.
The same technology became available Tuesday in the Gemini chat app, called Gemini Live.
OpenAI launched a similar tool on ChatGPT last year.
Google’s new “agentic” search capability should enable AI Mode to complete searches across multiple sites on the user’s behalf.
The prompt the company demonstrated: “Find 2 affordable tickets for this Saturday’s Reds game in the lower level.”
AI Mode then starts to “scrape hundreds of potential ticket options with real-time prices and availability, and handle the tedious work of filling out forms,” Google explained.
The AI then presents ticket options, and the user can complete the purchase on their preferred site.
The prompt: “Find 2 affordable tickets for this Saturday’s Reds game in the lower level.” Source: Google.
This capability will start with event tickets, restaurant reservations, and local appointments. Google is partnering with companies including Ticketmaster, StubHub, Resy, and Vagaro.
OpenAI earlier this year released a tool, Driver, based on similar technology. Driver can browse and complete bookings on the user’s behalf through partnerships with Tripadvisor, Priceline, and other travel companies. Anthropic was the first to showcase this type of technology with a demo last October.