Google has introduced two ways that generative artificial intelligence (GAI) can help holiday shoppers give the perfect gift — and find something for themselves.

The two features include gift ideas generated by AI, and creating fashion images from ideas that are available to purchase — new capabilities in Search Generative Experience (SGE).

A consumer looking to give a car enthusiast the perfect gift can search “great gifts for car enthusiast.” The generative AI-supported query will return a range of subcategories to explore.

This query returned suggestions ranging from car subscriptions, tools and equipment to car-related experiences such as tickets to a car show or driving experiences.

Driving experiences caught my attention, but I had to further the search query by asking which companies offer this experience, and what I need to do.

A more interesting feature announced Thursday allows consumers to shop for whatever is on their mind.

Describing an image generates a list of similar shoppable products. This is done with a search query that matches a consumer’s vision of a product.

Google calls this AI-powered image generation for shopping. For example, if a consumer is looking for a winter coat but has not found the perfect match, they can tap on “Generate images” in generative AI in search to see photorealistic images that match the image or vision.

If the consumer wants to make an adjustment, such as searching more specifically for a colorful metallic jacket instead of a plain or patterned one, they can refine the image in the text box to see a new set of images. One agreed on, scroll to see similar shoppable products.

The feature connects image generation technology with more than 35 billion listings in Google Shopping Graph to help consumers better visualize and find specific styles.

For example, consumers can search using the SGE for a shirt, blouse, pants, coat, shoes or other categories within apparel. Consumers will have an option to generate photorealistic images inspired by the words being queried. The technology than serves products that match the image.

The technology — and the data attached to the queries — have the potential to reimagine the way brands think about creating, producing, distributing and selling products and services.

Think about products being designed on demand and then sold to the creator — the consumer — to support one-off creations.

The technology could make the supply chain more complicated for brands, with longer ship and delivery times, while making it that much more appealing for consumers.