New ways to learn and explore with AI Mode in Search

We’re introducing new features and capabilities for AI Mode in Search, just in time for the back-to-school season. Whether you’re a student, a parent or an educator — or just wrapping up a busy summer — AI Mode can help you explore complex questions and discover high-quality information from across the web. To get started today on desktop, look for the new AI Mode button on the Google homepage.

Ask questions about images and PDFs

You can already use AI Mode in the Google app on Android and iOS to ask complex questions about images, and this week the same capability is launching on desktop browsers. Plus, in the coming weeks, we’re adding support for PDF uploads on desktop, so you can ask detailed questions about those documents and bring that context into your search.

For example, you could upload PDF slides from your psychology lecture and ask follow-up questions to deepen your understanding beyond the primary course materials.

AI Mode will analyze the contents of your file and cross-reference it with relevant information from the web to provide a helpful AI response, along with prominent links so you can dig deeper.

In the months ahead, AI Mode will support additional file types beyond PDFs and images, including files from your Google Drive.

Make a (study) plan with Canvas

When you’re staring down a big project or task, staying organized and keeping track of information from different places can be challenging. That’s where the new Canvas feature in AI Mode can help.

With Canvas, you can build plans and organize information over multiple sessions in a dynamic side panel that updates as you go. For example, if you want to create a study plan for an upcoming test, just ask AI Mode, then tap on the “Create Canvas” button to get started.

Right away, AI Mode will start piecing everything together in the Canvas side panel, and you can use follow-ups to refine the output until it meets your exact requirements. Soon, the new upload feature will also make it possible to customize your study guide (or whatever you need to create) with context from your files, like class notes or a course syllabus.

No matter what you're working on, from test prep to travel planning, you can always come back to your Canvas project and pick up where you left off.

In the coming weeks, users enrolled in the AI Mode Labs experiment in the U.S. will begin to see Canvas on desktop browsers. Just look for the “Create Canvas” option that appears when you ask for help creating or planning something.

Get real-time help with Search Live

This week, we’re rolling out Search Live with video input, bringing advanced capabilities from Project Astra directly into AI Mode. When you go Live with Search, it’s like having an expert on speed dial who can see what you see and talk through tricky concepts in real-time, all with easy access to helpful links on the web.

Search Live is fully integrated with Google Lens, our visual search tool. To get started, just open Lens in the Google app, tap the Live icon, and ask whatever’s on your mind while pointing your camera. You can have a free-flowing, back-and-forth conversation with Search in AI Mode, aided by all the visual context from your live camera feed, like different angles or objects in motion.

Search Live with video input is rolling out this week on mobile in the U.S., for users enrolled in the AI Mode Labs experiment.

Search what you see while browsing

With Lens in Chrome and AI Mode, you can ask and learn about what’s on your desktop screen — whether that’s a website, a PDF or anything else you’re viewing in the browser. Beginning soon, when you click on the Chrome address bar, you’ll see a new option to “Ask Google about this page” in the dropdown suggestions — another easy way to access Lens in Chrome.

Perhaps you’re looking at a geometry problem and want to better understand one of the diagrams. Click on “Ask Google about this page” from the address bar and select the diagram. You’ll get an AI Overview with a snapshot of key information directly in the side panel. And this week, you’ll be able to follow up with more questions through AI Mode, by selecting AI Mode at the top of the Lens search results or by clicking the “Dive deeper” button at the bottom of the AI Overview.

These are just some of the ways AI Mode in Search can help you learn and explore information on the web. If you’re interested in more tips for the upcoming school year, like help with back to school shopping, check out these recent updates.