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It seems to me one needs to consider the complexity of the question they are asking before searching it. To stick with your post, consider people asking medica

by RyanOD 4mo ago

It seems to me one needs to consider the complexity of the question they are asking before searching it. To stick with your post, consider people asking medical or financial questions. For a wide variety of reasons, many of such questions don't have an answer. In such cases, AI is still going to take a crack at it. AI shouldn't be blamed for "bullshit answers" to such questions. Before using AI, I think people should stop and ask themselves, "Is there really a single answer to this question? Is AI the right choice?"

thwarted 4mo ago
When the default "search" results are AI, it's difficult, if not impossible, to "choose", since Google is pushing the AI so hard.
- RyanOD 4mo ago
  In watching the demo, I didn't come away with the impression that they were removing search results. Yes, they are pushing AI hard, but users can still opt to use Google in the more traditional way. Unless I misunderstood the demo, it's definitely possible to choose.
  - makeitdouble 4mo ago
    "possible to choose" doesn't get us much. An interesting aspect of this is the decrease in quality feedback on th organic links. If most people never get down to the actual links there is very little to tell which ones were good or if they had any relevance. There is also that less incentive to properly maintain the search algorithms to fight SEO and spam. For all intents and purpose, organic search results have been given a death sentence and are just waiting for the last moment.
    - RyanOD 4mo ago
      Organic search dying was my first reaction too. But, who knows...this wouldn't be the first time I've heard that.
  - Barbing 4mo ago
    They are showing billions of people a big bold answer at the top of all their pages. What a wildly irresponsible company
  - rbits 4mo ago
    Go to Google right now and search anything. What is the very first thing you see?
autoexec 4mo ago
> one needs to consider the complexity of the question they are asking before searching...consider people asking medical or financial questions...many of such questions don't have an answer. In such cases, AI is still going to take a crack at it. AI shouldn't be blamed for "bullshit answers"...people should stop and ask themselves, "Is there really a single answer to this question? It's a bold position to say that it's the users fault for being lied to by Google. There isn't a "single answer" to most questions. It's still Google's job to provide answers that are accurate and reflect the best information available on complicated topics. That's what they're trying to sell us anyway. When google's AI can't live up to the hype "You shouldn't be asking AI such difficult questions" is not a great response, especially when people are just trying to get web search results and AI is suddenly interrupting with an opinion nobody asked for.
gsk22 4mo ago
The problem is Google's AI results get even simple factual questions wrong all the time. Earlier today, I searched "pixel 10 wifi 7" because I was confused that GSMArena showed my Pixel 8 supports Wifi 7, but the Pixel 10 only Wifi 6. Gemini confidently claimed that the Pixel 10 does support Wifi 7 -- but that's not true at all. Only the Pixel 10 _Pro_ supports it, as I discovered when actually reading the non-AI search results. And this is a question about a Google product!
- RyanOD 4mo ago
  Ok, fair. Hard to understand why it would get that wrong.
  - Barbing 4mo ago
    I’d make assumptions about how the cheapest and fastest possible flash model optimized for being extra cheap and extra fast would get something wrong based on its limited context (which can be very incomplete summaries of search results)
    - bitmasher9 4mo ago
      I often have the expensive models give relatively simple inaccurate answers, even when they cite sources that directly contradict them. The error rate is lower, but you can’t have confidence with llm answers.
  - facemelt2 4mo ago
    Did you just agree to a stranger's counterpoint on the internet? This post should be in a museum somewhere
  - SequoiaHope 4mo ago
    The simple answer is that these systems are very bad at telling the truth reliably.
  - pesus 4mo ago
    It somehow seems to interpret whatever sources it's grepping as the exact opposite of what those sources say fairly often. I've lost track of how many times I've clicked on the sources it cites, and every single one is in agreement, but the AI claims the opposite.
melagonster 4mo ago
In past, people can trust Google. Now we should teach children don't trust "search result" from Google.
freeone3000 4mo ago
I asked it “how can I tell if a spray paint can is empty?” And it told me that the paint can would no longer rattle.
deleted 4mo ago
[deleted]

by RyanOD 4mo ago

thwarted 4mo ago

When the default "search" results are AI, it's difficult, if not impossible, to "choose", since Google is pushing the AI so hard.

RyanOD 4mo ago
In watching the demo, I didn't come away with the impression that they were removing search results. Yes, they are pushing AI hard, but users can still opt to use Google in the more traditional way. Unless I misunderstood the demo, it's definitely possible to choose.
- makeitdouble 4mo ago
  "possible to choose" doesn't get us much. An interesting aspect of this is the decrease in quality feedback on th organic links. If most people never get down to the actual links there is very little to tell which ones were good or if they had any relevance. There is also that less incentive to properly maintain the search algorithms to fight SEO and spam. For all intents and purpose, organic search results have been given a death sentence and are just waiting for the last moment.
  - RyanOD 4mo ago
    Organic search dying was my first reaction too. But, who knows...this wouldn't be the first time I've heard that.
- Barbing 4mo ago
  They are showing billions of people a big bold answer at the top of all their pages. What a wildly irresponsible company
- rbits 4mo ago
  Go to Google right now and search anything. What is the very first thing you see?

autoexec 4mo ago

> one needs to consider the complexity of the question they are asking before searching...consider people asking medical or financial questions...many of such questions don't have an answer. In such cases, AI is still going to take a crack at it. AI shouldn't be blamed for "bullshit answers"...people should stop and ask themselves, "Is there really a single answer to this question? It's a bold position to say that it's the users fault for being lied to by Google. There isn't a "single answer" to most questions. It's still Google's job to provide answers that are accurate and reflect the best information available on complicated topics. That's what they're trying to sell us anyway. When google's AI can't live up to the hype "You shouldn't be asking AI such difficult questions" is not a great response, especially when people are just trying to get web search results and AI is suddenly interrupting with an opinion nobody asked for.

gsk22 4mo ago

The problem is Google's AI results get even simple factual questions wrong all the time. Earlier today, I searched "pixel 10 wifi 7" because I was confused that GSMArena showed my Pixel 8 supports Wifi 7, but the Pixel 10 only Wifi 6. Gemini confidently claimed that the Pixel 10 does support Wifi 7 -- but that's not true at all. Only the Pixel 10 _Pro_ supports it, as I discovered when actually reading the non-AI search results. And this is a question about a Google product!

RyanOD 4mo ago
Ok, fair. Hard to understand why it would get that wrong.
- Barbing 4mo ago
  I’d make assumptions about how the cheapest and fastest possible flash model optimized for being extra cheap and extra fast would get something wrong based on its limited context (which can be very incomplete summaries of search results)
  - bitmasher9 4mo ago
    I often have the expensive models give relatively simple inaccurate answers, even when they cite sources that directly contradict them. The error rate is lower, but you can’t have confidence with llm answers.
- facemelt2 4mo ago
  Did you just agree to a stranger's counterpoint on the internet? This post should be in a museum somewhere
- SequoiaHope 4mo ago
  The simple answer is that these systems are very bad at telling the truth reliably.
- pesus 4mo ago
  It somehow seems to interpret whatever sources it's grepping as the exact opposite of what those sources say fairly often. I've lost track of how many times I've clicked on the sources it cites, and every single one is in agreement, but the AI claims the opposite.

melagonster 4mo ago

In past, people can trust Google. Now we should teach children don't trust "search result" from Google.

freeone3000 4mo ago

I asked it “how can I tell if a spray paint can is empty?” And it told me that the paint can would no longer rattle.

deleted 4mo ago

[deleted]