Google Says Its New AI Shopping Tools Can Help You Find the Perfect Gift

We all have that one person on our list that we just can't figure out what gift suits them, but now, AI might be able to solve the dilemma.

On its blog, The Keyword, Google announced today that it has added generative AI abilities to the shopping experience. Based on research the company has done, it's learned that people tend to use longer, very specific search terms when looking for gifts. For example, someone might search for "great gifts for a deep sea fisherman." To help you find the right gift for those very specific people, Google Shopping can now return results based on what AI thinks that person might like.

Julie Black, Director of Product for Consumer Shopping at Google wrote in the blog that "SGE [Search Generative Experience] is designed as a jumping-off point to explore the web." What this means is that generative AI will look at your request and return more specific results than in the past based on what it 'thinks' you're looking for. These results, including product ads, are meant to be a way to get you looking in the right place for a gift that strikes your fancy.

To access the generative AI shopping features, you'll need to have generative AI enabled on your Chrome browser. If you don't already have that feature enabled, you can do it through the Google Labs page for SGE.

As another addition to the new SGE features for holiday shopping, Google is also making it possible to SGE in Search on mobile to generate photo-realistic images of a product you're looking for. You just need to type the description of what you want and tap Generate Images to see AI-generated photos that match what you typed. You'll also see shopping results below these AI-generated images.

Google says this feature is rolling out "starting in December," though it did not provide an exact date. You'll also need to opt into SGE on your Android or iOS device to use the feature, so if you're not already, you can find that option in Search Labs in the Google app.

These features are in addition to the ability to virtually try on clothes that Google introduced last year and the deal finder tools it introduced last week.