Google’s AI Mode gains popular camera search as rollout expands to more users

The advent of generative AI in Google Search didn’t receive the kind of response Google would’ve liked, as many alleged that it’s turned the search experience worse. However, with the introduction of Gemini 2.0 in AI overviews, Google seems to have ironed out some issues, with the company claiming that Gemini 2-powered AI search can now produce higher-quality responses.

Gemini 2.0 is also at the heart of Google Search’s experimental “AI Mode” capability, released last month for Labs users in the US, bringing a more chatbot-like experience where you can ask questions and get detailed answers with images and links to original sources. Now, on top of it, you can enjoy the benefit of Lens’ multimodal capabilities in AI Mode, which is also more accessible for users in the US.

What do Lens’ multimodal capabilities in AI Mode mean for you?

“Multimodal”, in simple words, means multiple types of data. For example, on Google Lens, you can use your phone’s camera to capture what you see around you or upload images stored locally to ask questions related to them and get solutions in both visual and text forms. For example, depending on the prompt. It can recognize the text in an image and translate it to a different language, help you complete homework and solve a complicated math problem, or even help you buy items similar to those in the image by giving you a list of purchasing links.

Now that these powerful multimodal capabilities are expanding to AI Mode, you don’t have to switch to the Google app’s home page to access Lens in the middle of an important conversation in AI Mode to quickly understand things like how objects in the image relate to one another, how they’re arranged, where you can buy similar ones, and more. As per Google, this makes search in AI Mode “nuanced” and “contextually relevant” in the Google app on both Android and iOS.

Google is rolling out AI Mode to more people in the US

AI Mode was accessible to Google One AI premium users in the US at launch, then it expanded to free users a few days later, but only for people who joined the waitlist in Google Labs. If you’re one but haven’t got access to it, it’s worth trying now, as Google has taken more people off the waitlist to expand the service to “millions more Labs users” in the US.

The AI Mode option appears on the left side of the All tab in the Google app and on the web, and that’s the only way to access the tool for now. In other words, it also means you need to come back to the home screen again if you want to start afresh in AI Mode. This is undeniably not the most convenient approach, but Google has already started working to fix this issue by introducing a shortcut button in the AI Mode interface to quickly start a conversation. Like the Lens support, the AI Mode shortcut button is also designed to save you from hassle and be more efficient in what you’re doing.