It is becoming more commonplace to use an AI chatbot for general searches and information gathering, changing the way we interact with search tools on the internet. An RMIT expert unpacks this shift, and the evolving partnership between web searches and AI.

Mark Sanderson, Professor of Information Retrieval

"It's clear that Google, the company itself, is very much alive - its Gemini AI tool is widely used and the Google website remains one of the key starting points for seeking information.

"Is search dead? No, but it now plays a partnership role with AI. Often when using an AI tool, behind the scenes it will transform your question into multiple web searches to find relevant documents that form the basis of the answer, which is returned to you in an AI overview.

"The days of users being expected to know the right keyword is dying out. With the rise of AI, we search less with words and more with semantic concepts.

"The idea of using keywords for searching was first proposed in 1952 to avoid the challenges of negotiating library catalogues. This simple idea proved to be highly effective but after 70 years of being the dominant way to find information, the humble keyword is being replaced."

Mark Sanderson is a Professor of Information Retrieval at RMIT University where he is Dean of Research for the STEM College. His research covers search engines, usability, data and text analytics.

***

General media enquiries: RMIT External Affairs and Media, 0439 704 077 or [email protected]