TikTok has started testing “search highlights”, a new form of a search system that will use generative AI to power its results. These AI search results will be powered by OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT.
At the top of certain search results pages, some TikTok users have started seeing a brief segment of AI-generated content. Users can click on this segment to access a full page containing the detailed AI response. The features appear to be working as intended for search queries such as “best laptops 2024” or “best recipes”, as per tests performed by The Verge.
However, the new AI feature does not support all queries just yet, so some keywords may not work. A support page for search highlights shows that these results are powered by ChatGPT, as mentioned earlier. TikTok presents this material “when the algorithm finds them relevant to your search.”
Another section under “search highlights” shows similar results, but it is unclear whether these are AI-powered. These highlights also appear at the top of search results. However, the source of this information is unknown, whether it is summarizing video content or derived from another origin.
TikTok has been working on its search features for a while. Last year, TikTok added Google search results in its app, which acted as a link back to the search engine giant. The app’s search results also received results from IMDb Wikipedia and other websites.
This is because a vast amount of social media users are now turning away from search engines and using their social apps to look up products, restaurants, and people. As a result, Google has started AI search results as well.
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