At Wednesday’s Google I/O conference, which may have set a record for single-event AI mentions, the company announced major plans to equip Google Search with generative AI features.
Google’s core product and main revenue stream will soon incorporate chatbot responses for search queries and follow-up prompts to engage users in conversation. A new integration with tools like Google Sheets will also allow users to export article content, such as “best honeymoon destinations”, into a spreadsheet.
Google isn’t shy about calling these new features experimental, lest its chatbot generate a wildly inaccurate or odd response. That’s why Google has created a platform called Search Labs for users to test new features and provide feedback. Currently, there is a waiting list to join Search Labs, with experiments rolling out “in the coming weeks.” It’s not much, but at least you can make sure you’re among the first to try new features. Here’s how to register.
Look for the Search Labs icon on Google Chrome or the Google app
In the Search Labs Announcement Page(opens in a new tab), Google says you can tap the Labs icon, which is a conical flask, in the Google app or when you open a new tab on Chrome. It also says you can find out more about the labs at labs.google.com/search(opens in a new tab), but we got a big error page when we tried it. We managed to get on the waitlist with the open a new tab method on Chrome. In the upper right corner, you should see the Labs icon. Clicking on it takes you to the waiting list page.
The Search Labs icon appears in the right corner of the home page.
If you’re signed in to your Google account, all you have to do is click on “Join the waiting list”.
Click “Join Waitlist” to sign up for Search Labs experiments.
Congratulations, you are on the waiting list
This will direct you to the confirmation page indicating that you’ve signed up, with a vague note that Google will let you know when you’ve been granted access. And now we wait. Speaking of waitlists, Google Bard’s AI chatbot waitlist has officially been removed. So while access to research labs can take weeks or months, you can test Bard right now.
Voila, now you are registered.
