Google Expands Personal Intelligence Feature to AI Mode in Search

A week after adding a new Personal Intelligence feature to its artificial intelligence (AI) assistant Gemini, Google has expanded the feature to AI Mode in Google Search.

Google announced the initial launch of Personal Intelligence in a Jan. 14 blog post, saying that when added to Gemini, it personalizes the AI assistant by connecting to Google apps and drawing information from email, photos and videos. The apps to which it connects include Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube and Search.

Now, the company has expanded Personal Intelligence to AI Mode in Google Search, saying in a Thursday (Jan. 22) blog post that the feature will personalize the search experience by connecting AI Mode to Gmail and Google Photos.

“With Google Search, you should be able to ask any question and find precisely what you need,” Robby Stein, vice president of product, Google Search, wrote in the post. “Accessing the world’s information is the foundation, but the most helpful search experience brings together that global knowledge with insights that are relevant to you.”

The expansion of Personal Intelligence to AI Mode in Google Search will do that, Stein said.

As of Thursday, the feature is available to Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers on an opt-in basis, according to the post.

Personal Intelligence provides a more tailored search by providing recommendations based on the user’s preferences or existing plans, drawn from Gmail and Google Photos, per the post.

For example, it can recommend sneakers based on its knowledge of those the user has purchased in the past, suggest a travel itinerary based on information from emails and photos, and recommend a new coat based on the user’s brand preferences and travel destinations, according to the post.

To protect the user’s privacy, connecting Personal Intelligence to Gmail and Google Photos is offered on an opt-in basis, meaning users choose whether to connect the apps to Search, when to do so, and when to turn those connections off, per the post.

In addition, the AI does not train directly on the contents of Gmail or Google Photos; it only trains on specific prompts in AI Mode and the model’s responses, according to the post.