Unreleased code found by 9to5 Google suggests that artificial intelligence may soon make Google searches on Android devices much more conversational. In the near future, the Search app might include an AI Mode that combines interactive conversations with additional features that make Google’s core service behave somewhat like the Gemini AI assistant.

AI Mode, also known as AIM in the code that was discovered, combines Google Search’s visual comprehension and analysis with Gemini Live’s human-like interactions. You can reply to what Google Search returns when you’re in AIM. You’ll be able to interrupt responses, ask follow-up questions, and otherwise use Search like Gemini Live, rather than just a list of results.

If and when it launches, AI Mode ought to be accessible as a tab in the bottom navigation bar of the Google app. You may search using voice commands as well as images that you’ve uploaded or captured with your phone. After that, you might describe what you hope to find in the picture. Another humorous aspect of the code is that it uses a winking emoticon as its placeholder.

Search or Gemini?

Although the concept of Google Search’s AI Mode seems reasonable at first, it presents certain contextual issues. It seems to be more of a version of Gemini Live because of how much it resembles Gemini. That would be consistent with Google’s apparent desire to encourage Gemini to be used for everything. Although AI Mode and Gemini Live are not the same thing—AI Mode would provide a multimodal experience that blends text, audio, and images—they are similar enough that it is difficult to choose when to utilize one over the other.

AI Mode could be the first step toward a more complete service. Enhancing the present voice interface, which transcribes spoken requests, and adding Lens’s capability to ask questions about images and videos could make it possible for Google Search to become a Gemini feature or vice versa. It might also alter our perception of the world’s most widely used search engine.

One could just ask Google to “give me a direct, thoughtful answer” rather than asking it to “show me results.”