In the future, Google will be able to read our thoughts according to an interview with Eric Schmidt in The Telegraph:
'We still think of search as something you type,' Schmidt said. 'Perhaps a decade from now, you will think, well, that was interesting, I used to type but now it just knows'.
For me, one of Schmidt's key points is that 'search' is becoming less of an autonomous task and more of a personalized service. As it becomes possible to monitor and record all of our actions in both the virtual and the 'real world', Google can build up a detailed history of our behaviour and accurately anticipate what we will do and want to do in the future.
The word 'search' implies that there is something to be found. If Google can predict what we will want before we know it ourselves, do we need a different word?
For example, will we formulate our ideas into a question as we do now, such as 'where shall I go for lunch?' or will answers arrive before the question has been asked, such as details of all of the best places to go based on where our friends are/our mood/vitamins we are lacking/the carbon footprint of the food and so on?
By eradicating the need to search and instead second guessing our behaviour, Google is the subject and we are the object. We are not searching the Internet, Google is searching us. 'Search' is becoming more of a service provided for us rather than an action on our part.
That's my take on the all-seeing Google for now, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Vashti
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