What happened

Shares of technology giant Alphabet (GOOG -1.96%) (GOOGL -1.97%) are up 4.7% as of 3:25 p.m. ET, mostly in response to an announcement made at the company's I/O conference. Speaking at the one-day annual event aimed at web developers and programmers, CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled a key new technology. 

So what

Users of the Google search engine may soon notice a new feature. Alphabet's so-called Search Generative Experience will facilitate new kinds of user interactions with the web. Specifically, the newly unveiled tech will use artificial intelligence to make for a more satisfying, conversational experience. The move is undoubtedly in response to a similar offering from rival Microsoft's search engine Bing.

Such an offering may prove to be a much-needed draw to Google and its affiliated platforms. Last quarter's revenue was up a scant 6% year over year on a constant-currency basis, while advertising revenue itself fell just a bit. Per-share earnings slipped from $1.23 a year earlier to $1.17 for the three-month stretch ending in March.

New search-based offerings aren't the only new development revealed at the I/O conference, however, even if they are the most game changing. The event also unveiled a virtual cloud-computing coding assistant called Duet AI (nicknamed Codey). The company's map app also now provides an expanded "immersive view," giving drivers a deeper, detailed view of their intended trip.

Now what

These are exciting developments, to be sure. But in and of themselves, they're not a reason to step into a position in Alphabet shares. All three new or updated technologies -- and Google's new AI-powered feature in particular -- are clever. It remains to be seen, however, if they can drive new incremental revenue that produces actual profit growth.

And yet, Alphabet is still a compelling investment prospect at this time, even with shares now at multimonth highs.

While the company's sheer size means yesteryear's growth paces will likely never be repeated, there's still lots of opportunity for growth. The aforementioned new tools will help, but there are more unseen and unknown growth drivers also in the works. As Pichai commented at Wednesday's I/O conference, "We are reimagining all of our core products, including search."

Investors may want to take him at his word and begin looking for a deeper reinvention of how Alphabet connects people to the web.