Google's AI Mode wants to help you touch grass
Search's new AI features pitch themselves as tools for getting offline: booking tickets, finding classes, and planning dinner parties.
Key points
- Google says searches for "how to digital detox" have risen 110% since the start of the year.
- AI Mode in Google Search now handles tasks like finding local classes, booking event tickets, and shopping for gear.
- A feature called Personal Intelligence connects Google Calendar and other apps to tailor suggestions to your schedule.
- Canvas, a tool inside AI Mode, can build study guides and simple game simulations to practise against.
- Canva integration lets users generate editable party invites directly from a Search prompt.
Google wants its search engine to help you spend less time on your phone. That is the slightly awkward pitch behind five new use cases for AI Mode, the chatbot-style version of Google Search, laid out this week by Google AI.
The company points to a rise in searches for offline hobbies: adult tennis lessons, trail running, hiking, run clubs. Searches for "how to digital detox" are up 110% since January, Google says. Searches for "how to meet people my age near me" are also climbing.
The fix, according to Google, is more AI. Specifically, AI Mode, which is the conversational layer inside Search that answers questions in longer, chattier form rather than a list of blue links.
What can AI Mode actually do here?
Five things, per Google. Find local beginner classes, shop for specific gear, build study guides for hobbies, book event tickets, and design party invites.
Ask something like "how can I get started playing tennis, are there beginner clinics nearby" and AI Mode returns suggestions rather than search results. Ask for "affordable hiking boots with good ankle support" and it will compare products, check local stock if you add "near me", and even offer to phone shops on your behalf to check availability.
For live events, you share a budget, a city, and how many tickets you want. AI Mode drafts a shortlist. You still finish the booking on the ticketing site itself.
What is Personal Intelligence?
It is Google's name for letting AI Mode read your other Google apps. Connect your Google Calendar, for example, and asking for cooking classes next month will filter for times you are actually free.
This is opt-in. You choose which apps to connect. The value depends on how much of your life already lives inside Google's ecosystem, and how comfortable you are letting a chatbot see it.
What about Canvas and Canva?
These are two different things with confusingly similar names.
Canvas is a workspace inside AI Mode. Tap the plus menu, select Canvas, and you can ask it to build, say, a beginner's guide to chess strategy. Google says you can then use Canvas to practise against a simulated opponent it builds for you.
Canva is the separate design app. Google has wired it into Search so a prompt like "create a flyer in Canva for the party I'm hosting in two weeks, modern minimalist style" produces an editable design without leaving the results page.
The five features at a glance
| Feature | What you ask for | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Local classes | Beginner tennis lessons nearby | Suggestions, optionally matched to your calendar |
| Gear shopping | Hiking boots with ankle support | Product comparison, local stock, store call-ahead |
| Canvas guides | Chess strategy cheat sheet | Study guide plus practice simulation |
| Event tickets | Concerts in my city, under £100 | Curated list, booking on partner site |
| Canva invites | Minimalist party flyer | Editable design in Search results |
Should you use it?
If you already live in Google Search, these features slot in without extra downloads. The trade-off is the same one that runs through every AI assistant story this year: more useful answers in exchange for more access to your data.
The irony of using an AI chatbot to help you put your phone down is not lost on anyone. Whether the tools genuinely nudge people outside, or simply add another few minutes of scrolling before they get there, is the question worth watching.
