Google's Circle to Search to get text interactions in AI Overviews

Google is preparing to enhance its Circle to Search functionality, this time to add some text interactions in AI Overviews. These features are aimed at improving user interaction with lengthy text captured from images.

According to a report by Android Authority, Google plans to introduce three new options that offer to summarize, explain, and extract text content from images. The first of these, "Summarize" as the name indicates, can reportedly process an AI summary of then contents, and as Android Central notes, this could work similar to the summarization tool that is available in Google Gemini.

The "Explain" chip generates a brief AI overview of the captured text. In addition to this, it also provides key details such as the article’s title, author, and a link back to the originating website, although it does not link directly to the specific article. This could be particularly useful for users seeking quick context without sifting through extensive text.

The "Extract" chip copies all text in the image, and categorizes the information into sections such as "Top Section," "News Section," and "Bottom Section." This feature aims to present information in a structured manner, enhancing readability and usability.

Currently spotted in the Google app's beta version 16.11.36, the options are currently available as flags in the app. These new chips appear to signal a broader expansion of Google's labeling for "one-tap actions" which were first introduced in January. Users can expect quicker access to functionalities such as identifying phone numbers and URLs with just a tap. While these upgrades were initially discovered for Circle to Search, there’s speculation that similar features may soon be integrated with Google Lens, although no official confirmation has been made about either of these yet.