Google’s Search Generative Experience Now Generates Images & Writes Drafts

Google introduced new features to its AI-powered Search Generative Experience, the ability to create AI images and write draft content.

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Key Points

• Google integrates new generative AI features into the Search Generative Experience (SGE) experiment.
• SGE users can now create AI images and draft content.
• The SGE upgrades include safeguards to prevent misuse and maintain user privacy.

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Google announced its AI-powered Search Generative Experience (SGE) now has the ability to generate images with AI and create the first draft of content directly in the experimental search engine.

“As we continue to experiment with bringing generative AI capabilities into Search, we’re testing new ways to get more done as you’re searching — like creating an image that can bring an idea to life, or getting help on a written draft when you need a starting point,” said Hema Budaraju, Senior Director of Product Management for Search at Google.

The ability to generate images using prompts directly in SGE makes it a rival to Bing’s Image Creator using OpenAI’s DALLE-E 3 technology. The ability to write draft content in both short and long formats in SGE also rivals Bing’s OpenAI integration of GPT-4.

Generative AI Images

Users who are opted in to Google SGE can create images with the generative AI technology directing in Search through text prompts. SGE users may also see an option to create AI-generated images directly in Google Images, as part of this experiment. 

For example, searching for something like “draw a picture of a capybara wearing a chef’s hat and cooking breakfast” will provide four AI-generated images in the search results.

Tapping on any of the AI-generated images will allow you to see how the generative AI technology expanded the initial query with more descriptive details to create the imagery for each of the four images. For example, one of the sample images in Google’s announcement for this SGE upgrade shows the following details when tapping on one of the generative AI images: “a photorealistic image of a capybara wearing a chef’s hat and cooking breakfast in a forest, grilling bacon.”

You can further customize the image by editing the text description so it generates a new AI image that brings your vision to life.

Safeguards are also put into place to block the creation of AI images that violate Google’s prohibited use policy for generative AI, including harmful or misleading content. Also, every image generated through SGE will have metadata labeling and embedded watermarking to indicate that it was created by AI technology.

The new image generation capability in SGE is currently only available in English in the United States, to people who opted into the SGE experiment and who are 18 years or older.

AI-Powered Draft Content

Users who are opted in to Google SGE can also test drive the AI-powered draft writing feature directly in Search. The purpose of this upgrade is to allow users who are researching a project or topic in SGE to quickly write drafts as ideas are sparked from websites, videos, and images they come across. Drafts can also be made shorter or longer and the tone can be changed to be more casual at the click of a button.

For example, if you were using SGE to find inspiration for home improvement projects, like how to convert a garage into a home office, after finding ideas across the web and potential contractors you’d like to get in touch with for the work, you can ask SGE to “Write a note to a contractor asking for a quote to turn my garage into a home office.”

From the draft interface in SGE, users can export drafts to Google Docs or Gmail to further edit the AI-generate draft before using it in a writing project. Google Workspace privacy protections carry over into this export functionality.

The new draft writing capability in SGE is currently available in English in the United States to people who opted into the SGE experiment.

Summary

Google integrated new generative AI features into the Search Generative Experience experiment. SGE users can now create AI images using text prompts and draft content while searching that can be exported to Google Docs and Gmail. These SGE upgrades include safeguards to prevent misuse and maintain user privacy.