About a third of search queries in India are pronounced: Google Exec

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Spoken search queries in India are nearly 10 times higher than in countries like the US where the ratio is only about 3-4% of total searches

India would see more diversification in search queries from multiple modalities including text, voice and images: Google SVP Prabhakar Raghavan

Currently, the focus of the tech giants is not only on pure Indian languages ​​but also dialects like Hinglish, a mix of pure and written languages

Nearly a third of search queries from India are spoken, as Indians tend to feel more comfortable speaking rather than typing and searching for answers, said a senior Google executive.

In India, about a third of our search queries are spoken. This is in contrast to the three or 4% in the US. So, that’s a 10x increase. That’s because people here are culturally very comfortable pulling out their phones and talking to them, Google senior vice president Prabhakar Raghavan said in an interaction with ET.

Raghavan added that India would see more diversification in Google search queries from multiple modalities including text, voice and images.

The Google executive noted that India is growing at a fairly significant rate, adding that India’s next big startup could cater to the needs of Indian users.

The tech giant has developed several India-focused products including Google Pay and several Google Maps features like offline maps, flood forecast alerts, and two-wheeler directions. These products have found use cases in other geographies as well. These products have also come to dominate the Indian market. For example, Google Pay was among the top three UPI payment apps in the country.

We have fascinating new opportunities in building better Indian language models because data scarcity is different. We are trying to develop better resources for training in more languages, Raghavan told ET.

Currently, the focus of the tech giants is not only on pure Indian languages ​​but also dialects like Hinglish, a mix of pure and written languages.

According to Raghavan, training mixed language models along with pure language models was also key in decoding search queries from India, as search queries moved from traditional text and image to a combination of voice and image or just voice.

Google’s views on generative AI

Calling calls for a pause in AI development as unnecessary, Raghavan said rules to govern AI should be based on science and a deep understanding of the subject, voicing his opposition to calls for a blanket ban of technology, which has risen to superstar status recently.

While Google has implemented extensive use cases for its generative AI and derivative models, Raghavan believes a pause in the technology’s development was unnecessary at this time.

Raghavan responded to a question about calls led by Elon Musk to halt AI development for at least six months. The Google executive said many prominent scientists understand what these things do and don’t do. My suggestion would be to involve them and try to get exactly what they are thinking out of them, added Raghavan.

Raghavan added that AI regulations must balance innovation and its potential to elevate economies like India, adding that the country remains one of two priority markets for Google.

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