Google has announced a significant upgrade to its Gemini chatbot platform, introducing a feature called "Deep Research" that enables the AI to "reason" through a research problem and compile a comprehensive report. This advanced capability is exclusive to Gemini Advanced, a more sophisticated version of Gemini available to users subscribed to the Google One AI Premium Plan, priced at $20 a month.

The "Deep Research" feature uses "advanced reasoning" and "long context capabilities" to generate research briefs, which can be exported to Google Docs for additional editing. According to Google, this feature can analyze information relevant to a query from across the web on a user's behalf, acting as a sort of research assistant. The results are organized into summaries within the brief and paired with links to the original source material.

To utilize Deep Research, a user writes a question, and the AI creates a "multi-step research plan" for the user to either revise or approve. Once approved, Deep Research refines its analysis over the course of a few minutes, searching, saving potentially interesting pieces of information, and then starting a new search based on what it's learned. This process repeats multiple times, and once it's finished, Deep Research generates a report of the key findings.

While Deep Research has the potential to save users hours of time, it also raises significant ethical concerns. For instance, the feature could have serious consequences for education, as students may rely on it to outsource brainstorming and writing, potentially losing critical thinking skills. A recent study has linked heavy usage of ChatGPT among students to higher levels of procrastination, memory loss, and lower grade point averages.

Furthermore, Deep Research could harm publishers financially by scraping information from their websites and compiling it into briefs, depriving them of valuable ad revenue. This concern is reminiscent of the impact of AI Overviews, the AI-generated summaries Google supplies for certain Google Search queries, which has led to a 5% to 10% decrease in traffic from search for publishers. Experts estimate that AI-generated overviews could lead to more than $2 billion in losses for publishers.

Google claims that Deep Research could "connect users to relevant websites they might not have found otherwise so they can dive deeper to learn more." However, it remains to be seen whether the feature will deliver on this promise or divert views away from the broader web.

In addition to Deep Research, Google is also introducing Gemini 2.0 Flash, an experimental version of its newest flagship AI model, which will be available to both free and paying Gemini users. This model is optimized for chat and promises better performance across a number of tasks, as well as faster responses. However, Google cautions that some Gemini features "won't be compatible with [the] model in its experimental state."

The full version of 2.0 Flash is expected to arrive in January. As Google continues to push the boundaries of AI capabilities, it will be essential to monitor the implications of these advancements on education, publishing, and the broader tech landscape.