AI tracker: Soon, a new way to search and a digital twin of St Peter’s

Themes for Outlook and other AI-powered marvels in the news this week:

Open AI introduces search

This week, Google Search got some serious competition from ChatGPT, which can now search the web better, providing users with fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources. “This blends the benefits of a natural language interface with the value of up-to-date sports scores, news, stock quotes, and more,” OpenAI said in a blog post. The search function ostensibly differs from traditional search engines in prompting users to ask a questions in a more natural, conversational way, and go deeper with follow-up questions—ChatGPT will consider the full context of your chat to get a better answer. The search function is currently available to premium users on desktop and mobile app.

St Peter's gets the AI treatment

St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican now has a digital twin, announced earlier this week. The AI-enabled project, a reconstruction of the evolution of the basilica from the Roman era to today, will be live from 1 December on the website basilicasanpietro.va. AI made it possible to exploit “the enormous amount of data” contained in 400,000 photos taken by drones to reconstruct this “giant quilt”, which reconstructs the most minute details of the basilica’s architecture, paintings and sculptures. The site will also offer a virtual tour of the basilica, which celebrates its 400th anniversary in 2026, while in-person visitors will find tech-enabled exhibition rooms allowing a full immersion.

Stay on theme

Microsoft Outlook now offers unique and dynamic AI-powered themes that can be personalised to reflect individual tastes and interests. Themes by Copilot in Outlook “harnesses the power of generative AI to help people create unique themes that reflect their personal preferences and style within their Outlook experience,” Microsoft said in a blog post.