How Google's New AI Agent Could Change How We Browse the Web Forever

How Google's New AI Agent Could Change How We Browse the Web Forever

Google just unveiled something that could revolutionize how we use the internet. Project Mariner, a new AI agent from Google's DeepMind division, can actually control your web browser like a human would – clicking buttons, filling forms, and shopping online on your behalf.

What Makes Project Mariner Different

Unlike typical AI assistants that just answer questions, Project Mariner takes real actions on websites. The Gemini-powered agent works as a Chrome extension, creating a chat window where you can give it tasks like "create a shopping cart based on this grocery list."

The AI then navigates to websites like Safeway, searches for items, and adds them to your cart. However, there's a catch – it's deliberately slow, with about 5-second delays between actions, and it can't complete purchases or sign agreements for security reasons.

Key Features and Limitations

What it can do:

• Navigate websites and click through pages
• Fill out forms and search for products
• Find flights, hotels, and recipes
• Shop for household items online

Current restrictions:

• Only works on Chrome's active tab
• Won't handle credit cards or checkout processes
• Requires users to watch the entire process
• Can't accept cookies or terms of service

Google is being cautious with the rollout, starting with a small group of beta testers. The company takes screenshots of your browser and sends them to Gemini for processing – something users must agree to in the terms of service.

Beyond Project Mariner: Google's AI Agent Suite

Google also announced three other AI agents:

• Deep Research: Creates multi-step research plans for complex topics, competing with OpenAI's reasoning models
• Jules: Helps developers with coding tasks through GitHub integration
• Gaming AI: Assists with video game navigation (still in early development)

As Google DeepMind CTO Koray Kavukcuoglu told TechCrunch, this represents a fundamental shift where "your agent can do everything that you do on a website."

This could dramatically impact how businesses interact with customers online, potentially reducing direct engagement with websites while still driving traffic to them. The web was designed for humans, but Google's AI agents might change that standard entirely.