This Week in AI: Search is Changing Faster Than Expected

At the beginning of 2024, research firm Gartner said it expected search engine volume would drop 25% within two years, as people switched to chatbots and other AIs. Fast forward to last December, and a survey from Future found that 27% of Americans had already done exactly that. Respondents to Future's survey said that speed, ease of use and convenience were among the reasons they'd switched.

Now, new data from Adobe is adding even more weight to these findings, with data from retailers that showed customers with AI chatbots stayed on a site 8% longer, browsed through 12% more pages in each visit, and were significantly more likely to click another link on the site once there (instead of "bouncing").

The reason shoppers told Adobe they preferred AIs might sound familiar: "Online shoppers say they see benefits in using an AI-powered chat interface, as it shortens the time required for them to receive information that is personalized to their needs," Adobe wrote. (In case you're curious, Adobe's survey results were written by a human.)

Many people were surprised when Google began adding AI Summaries to its search product last year. Even if the new feature was not entirely ready for prime time -- sometimes repeating conspiracy theories and suspect medical advice -- AI has continued to become a bigger part of Google's search mix, with AI Mode results pages sometimes showing up in place of traditional search results. 

Your next dentist might have an AI assistant

While there's plenty of debate about whether AI can replace artists, writers and musicians, there's no question it can help doctors. Numerous trials and studies have found that AI can help doctors detect cancer better, invent new drugs faster and even help look after patients. Now, a startup called Pearl believes it can help dentists diagnose patients better too.

One of the keys to Pearl's technology is reading X-ray printouts, effectively offering what TechCrunch said is "a second opinion." And dentists who use its technology reportedly see a 30% boost in patients agreeing to treatment.

"Pearl can help patients visualize their dental problems more clearly than on a traditional X-ray," TechCrunch wrote. "But the tool is not meant to replace the dentist’s judgment."

That Italian AI newspaper was...not great

Last week, we discussed the Italian newspaper that experimented with being written entirely by AI. Now, the editor of that newspaper has spoken to The Washington Post, which shared details about the ups and downs of the "Foglio AI." Claudio Cerasa, editor of Il Foglio and the name behind the experiment, said that the articles published did indeed come from ChatGPT Pro.

But the process was not easy. It turns out the AI plagiarized portions of a story from The Atlantic in one piece, and made up facts for another.

At the end of its first week, Cerasa reportedly asked ChatGPT to assess its own work. The Washington Post said the resulting article stated that “artificial intelligence can write well” but that “writing well is not yet journalism.”

Tesla robots coming next year, Musk says

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that his company will produce and use humanoid robots next year, according to a report in the BBC. Musk said the robots will first be used by his own company, and then offered for sale in 2026.

Musk first showed off his company's robot in 2021, and has since become a key marketing image at many AI events, including on Capitol Hill.

AI is taking over coding

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says AI is quickly taking over the coding tasks at many companies, representing as much as half of coding at several organizations.

"I think in many companies, it’s probably past 50% now," Altman told Stratechery analyst Ben Thompson. He said what will likely impact the industry further is what he called "agentic" coding, like Devin and Copilot Studio. where AIs build their own data and apps based on a prompt.

Read more: AI Tools and Tips 

• How to Use an AI Agent
• DeepSeek's New AI Challenges ChatGPT — and You Can Run It on Your PC
• How To Improve Your AI Chatbot Prompts
• How I Turned Myself into an AI Video Clone for Under $50
• What is Meta AI? A Capable Chatbot That’s 100% Free
• How to Get Started with Copilot for Microsoft 365
• Getting started with LM Studio: A Beginner's Guide
• Meet Claude, the Best AI You've Never Heard of

Ian Sherr is a widely published journalist who's covered nearly every major tech company from Apple to Netflix, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and more for CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and CNET. Aside from writing, he tinkers with tech at home, is a longtime fencer -- the kind with swords -- and began woodworking during the pandemic.