What is Generative AI?

Generative AI refers to the use of algorithms and machine learning techniques to create original and unique content, such as images, music, and even text. Generative AI offers a range of applications that can transform the way companies operate. 

At the moment, we can already distinguish between two generations of AI: the traditional (older, the first, the mother) is programmed to perform specific tasks, while Generative AI can learn from existing data and generate new content based on the data it has assimilated. 

In other words, Generative AI (the new one, the daughter, the latest generation) learns.

Source: Pixabay

Generative AI uses a Machine Learning model to learn the patterns and relationships in a dataset of content created by humans. It transforms that dataset into patterns and uses them to produce more information, as explained here.

Speed of content production VS quality of final product

We don’t have any quantitative data (yet!) to conclude the quality of the products developed by Generative AI. When used correctly, these applications can achieve impressive results, but above all, quickly. 

There are many shares of the errors issued by ChatGPT. Given that ChatGPT is one of the applications using Generative AI, this means that its information is derived from the data that we humans input. So, just like a primary school teacher who imparts practical knowledge to children, we humans will also have to be the teachers of Generative AI applications.

Generative AI in the creation of content for social networks

It’s one of the most widely used and successful applications: creating quick content for quick consumption on social networks. Being visible and present has never been easier. The secret lies, as has already been revealed, in the prompts given to the AI software. But if it uses Generative AI, it means that it will use our prompts as absolute truth, just like a child tells his parents ‘That’s how the teacher taught it’. We’ll use the following example for educational purposes: we asked ChatGPT to create an Instagram post comparing branded and generic medicines. The quality and veracity of the result depend on us humans. Like a subliminal message, ChatGPT will learn from our doubt.

Which of these two prompts is right for the content we want to create?

1. Write an X-word copy post comparing branded and generic drugs and the advantages of each.
2. Write an X-word copy post explaining the benefits of branded drugs compared to generic drugs.

The right answer will be 1, because it makes a non-judgmental request, like prompt 2, which creates the idea – myth – that there are more benefits to taking a branded drug than a generic one. And because it learns and assimilates the information as correct, by creating false judgments in the form of prompts, ChatGPT will learn that a branded drug has more benefits than a generic one and pass this message on to other users when asked about the difference between the two.

Source: Pixabay

 

If in the text we already have a king, in the pictures we have a queen?

Yes, Google is already testing its new search model – SGE – Search Generative Experience: Google’s super AI tool, which uses a conversational style for searches. Well, for everything. This technology will change the way information is searched and the browsing habits of internet users. 

If you’ve searched for an image of a family dressed all in Minho attire having shoemakers for lunch and haven’t found anything like it, not even in the image banks, you can create that image in the new Google experience. This means that Dall-E has found its big competitor. 

We can create the result we can’t find in our search. And that changes everything.

Generative AI research

What is the future of online searches with Generative AI? Like a superhero, there is always an evolution with each season and this is visible in his costume, which is increasingly elaborate and full of gadgets. 

You’re looking for a hotel for a family vacation, from the kids to the grandparents. A quick Google search for ‘hotels for family vacations’ gives you several suggestions for hotels with outdoor and indoor pools, playgrounds, large rooms, and full board. This is an example of a traditional search, which we are used to doing every day. 

What if we added more conditions to this search? 

You prefer a hotel with accessibility, in a mountain environment, and with suggested dates for days when the temperature doesn’t exceed 24ºC. 

The use of generative AI in search helps the user to have a complete overview when shopping, making even the most thoughtful and complex purchasing decisions quicker and easier to make.

Ads in Generative AI research

In the SGE (Search Generative Experience), search ads will continue to be displayed in specific places throughout the page, highlighting product images and videos. 

In addition to the list of products with the characteristics you have listed, you will also be able to see the opinions of other users. 

The idea is not new and has been widely disseminated by hotel booking sites. What’s new is being able to bring all this information together in a single search.

Voices and sources

Just like the introduction of dubious information in apps like ChatGPT, comments and reviews in ads can also be biased. On the other hand, taking a responsible approach, the new generation of AI in serps brings back the debate about the importance of websites and blogs: are social networks enough for us, or should we have our place? 

This entire SGE experience – Search Generative Experience – is in beta on Search Labs, Chrome for PC, and the Google app (Android and iOS) in the USA (only in English at launch in May 2023) so that it can incorporate comments and continue to improve the experience over time.

The Bard was just the beginning

The search results – serps – generated by Generative AI will be highlighted at the top of the page, in a different color: the organic results, the knowledge panel, and “people also ask” are under the AI response.

The Local Pack – or Google Local Pack is a section of the search results where Google presents a list of local businesses related to your search – will have 5 results instead of 3.

Source: Result of a Google Generative AI search

 

What changes for SEO professionals?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the set of actions taken to obtain a better position in search engine results (such as Google) and be found more easily. With AI changing the way people search the web, SEO objectives may no longer be to reach the top positions in the SERP, but to transform content into the highlights of the SGE model. 

Content creation is once again the trick to getting visibility on Google.

In short: what are the impacts of generative AI on content creation, SEO, and search:

• Increasingly personalized searches;
• Fewer ads in the results;
• Creation of more personalized and in-depth content, using AI;
• Conversational mode will deepen information during searches;
• It will be possible for users to understand a topic more quickly, discover new points of view, and carry out tasks more easily;
• Highlighting of base content with the sources of the information shown in the search with artificial intelligence.

Google is leaving the door open for more evolution, innovation, and digital freedom. The paradigm is going to change: Google has aligned itself with AI to stop being a search engine and become an answer engine.