Watch: Conversations With Google
An in-depth post discussing the importance of natural language conversation in human-computer interaction and long-term predictions on evolution of Google.
Transcript
Imagine waking up and having a natural, flowing conversation with your search engine. Instead of typing keywords, you talk to it like a friend who knows your habits, your health history, and your daily schedule. This is the future of human-computer interaction. We are moving away from search engines that simply list websites, and toward highly personalized, conversational companions. To achieve this, technology must shift from quietly tracking our data in the background to building what we can call an index of one. This is a highly detailed, personalized template of your life, habits, and preferences, populated through active, natural dialogue. Natural language is the most comfortable way for us to communicate, and speech recognition is paving the way. In the coming decades, search will evolve. We will see smart machines that can predict our choices, summarize complex research, and manage our daily tasks. Eventually, this could lead to true artificial intelligence and even direct brain-to-machine communication, helping humans overcome the biological bottleneck of how fast we can process information. This shift will also transform the business world. Companies that merely aggregate data, like flight or weather search sites, will face challenges as search engines provide direct answers instantly. However, original creators of content and services will continue to thrive. Ultimately, the future of search is not about links. It is about understanding exactly what we mean, and giving us exactly what we need.