Google to host an event on search and AI on February 8

Google is all set to share more about its work on artificial intelligence. Next week, Google is hosting an event on how it is "using the power of AI to reimagine how people search for, explore and interact with information, making it more natural and intuitive than ever before to find what you need", according to an invitation sent to The Verge. The 40-minute event will stream on YouTube on February 8 at 8:30 am ET.

The event's timing is interesting given that Google CEO Sundar Pichai has just announced that the company plans to let people "interact directly" with its "newer and more powerful language models as a search companion" soon. In addition, Google, long the de facto way of finding information on the internet, is likely to face some pressure from Microsoft, which reportedly plans to integrate ChatGPT into Bing. That could allow Bing to offer smarter summaries and results, something Google needs help with.

Of course, the presentation may be more about tools we are already familiar with; the invitation contains references to Google Lens, Translate, Shopping and Maps. However, it would be hard to complain if the program is just about minor improvements to those tools since they can make a big difference to some of the millions of people who use them every day.