Google Chrome's Gemini Revamp Has Me Worried

Google Chrome has slowly accumulated more generative AI features over the last two years, and now even more of them are on the way. Google has announced deeper integration with its Gemini AI assistant, including an "agent browsing assistant" that will attempt to automate online tasks.

Before getting into the specifics, I'll say that I am deeply concerned about Google shoving more generative AI features into the world's most popular web browser. This is a technology that is not fully accurate, triggers psychological breakdowns in some people , and is built upon massive libraries of stolen work . The introduction of AI responses in Google web searches has already cut into the revenue of creators and publishers making the content that AI requires to function, and these Gemini integrations in Chrome are clearly designed to funnel more people away from traditional web searches. Last year, Google's AI was telling people to eat glue and rocks , and now it's at the core of Chrome.

First, the Gemini assistant will be accessible from a new button at the top-right corner of the desktop browser window. From there, you get the standard Gemini chat interface, but with the added option of using your current tabs and browsing history as context. For example, if you have a cooking recipe open, you could click the button and start asking questions like "what stores sell the ingredients for this recipe" without copying and pasting anything from the page. The Gemini assistant will be available inside the iPhone and iPad version of Chrome, too.

Google is also "introducing agentic capabilities to Gemini in Chrome," which will allow Gemini to take control of a tab to perform tasks. The company said it will be able to do "those tedious tasks that take up so much of your time, like booking a haircut or ordering your weekly groceries." It remains to be seen how that will perform in real-world tests— ChatGPT agent made the same promises with similar generative AI technology, but it doesn't work all that well . This feature will start rolling out "in the coming months."

Chrome is also getting quick access to Google's AI Mode from the address bar. As you type a search, an 'AI Mode' button will be accessible in the corner of the search bar, and clicking it will open the result in AI Mode instead of a regular web search. You may also see suggestions as you type that start a conversation with Gemini, instead of opening a regular web search. Finally, Google will use Gemini to detect sophisticated scams and notifications, and change your compromised passwords with a single click on supported sites.

Many of these changes will sound familiar if you've seen Microsoft Edge's Copilot integrations, or some of the AI-first web browsers that have popped up over the last year, like Perplexity's Comet Browser. This might kill some of the interest in those browsers, except for the people who prefer different AI models. For those of you who don't like generative AI, Chrome is adding a lot more features you'll have to disable. You could certainly make the argument that Chrome has just as much bloatware as Edge, if not more.

These features will start rolling out to Chrome in the United States, and expand to other regions in the future. I'm not looking forward to it.

Source: Google