TikTok is testing a extra strong search outcomes web page, together with utilizing generative AI. The characteristic seems to be a brand new and is known as “search highlights.”
A snippet of AI outcomes seem on the prime of some search outcomes pages, and clicking into the part opens a brand new web page with the complete response. In fast checks, I used to be capable of finding AI outcomes for queries about recipes or matters like “finest laptops 2024.”
A web page explaining the outcomes says that the fabric is generated utilizing ChatGPT, and that TikTok shows the content material “when [the algorithm] finds them related to your search.” The characteristic seems to be restricted to date: not all queries have AI solutions.
There’s additionally an identical characteristic referred to as “search highlights” that aren’t labeled as AI-generated. These, too, present up on the prime of search outcomes, but it surely’s not clear the place that info is coming from, like whether or not it’s summarizing movies or taken from someplace else. TikTok didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark in regards to the options.
The video platform has steadily added extra options to its in-app search. Final fall, TikTok began testing including Google Search outcomes to its in-app outcomes web page that primarily acted as a hyperlink again to Google. TikTok has additionally experimented with including links to Wikipedia, IMDb, and different web sites immediately within the app’s search outcomes web page.
TikTok is making an attempt to harness a number of the habits its customers — particularly youthful individuals — have developed on the app. Many youthful customers treat TikTok like a search engine, opting to lookup restaurant or product suggestions within the app as a substitute of utilizing platforms like Google Search. And like Google, TikTok now appears to be leaning into AI outcomes by together with them above creator content material.