Google Search Is Now a Giant Hallucination

RGB@group.lt to Technology@lemmy.world – 813 points –
Google Search Is Now a Giant Hallucination
gizmodo.com

Google rolled out AI overviews across the United States this month, exposing its flagship product to the hallucinations of large language models.

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Why does search need to be AI? I've had no problems finding any information I wanted under the former process.

I think the idea is that you won't even leave the Google page at all, they want to keep you on their site and serve you their ads instead of sending you to someone else's site and giving someone else that sweet sweet ad revenue.

The logic checks out. Avoid using google where possible.

YouTube is their only must have service imho

After the UI changes...yeah not even sure about that. Absolutely atrocious

Well they are still fucking us but can't replace the content... Yet

But you can access the content without going to their site, with places like Invidious, and apps like NewPipe and Tubular.

I need it on my teevee so I pay.

I still use Foss client o my phone tho

If you have a way of installing android apps from the web on your TV, Smart Tube Next is very good. Sponsor Block is integrated if you want to use it, but I mostly am just glad it doesn't serve ads.

Ah yes, tvs. I don't watch enough yt to want to watch it on tv, so I often forget about that. You're right, no easy answers there right now. Certainly there are ways, but all sacrifice some convenience. Hopefully this will change soon.

Many large creators post on Nebula, and half my YT consumption has been replaced by Nebula

youtube will also become harvested for AI data. And filled with AI functionality in the future. ergo: Look out for alternatives.

I think it's been a long time since digital companies tried to solve actual problems.

You obviously haven’t used the web3 nocode blockchain NFT AI enough to have an informed opinion.

Can I super-mega-ultra upvote this?

It's the same playbook as ever. Doubt can only be explained by ignorance, failure can only be explained by under-committing,

The only way to have a "valid" opinion is to have already bought-in and be actively selling other people on it. It's the same mentality as a cult or a pyramid scheme.

It’s become more efficient to get basic info on virtually any topic by just asking an LLM like ChatGPT and that could be a serious threat to Google Search. People might form the habit of asking AIs for everything and then go to Google Search only when they want to dig deeper / find relevant articles etc. So I assume they added their own AI right into Search in an effort to continue being the first (and perhaps only) place one goes to for information.

But what about when you start wanting to know about life's mysteries?

Google isn't staffed by geologists; how are they to know what number of rocks you should eat each day?

Google search itself doesn't have a functioning set of human organs; without AI how would they know how much urine to drink for kidney stones?

Without AI it might've taken another century before we got spicy gasoline pasta recipe, and you think that isn't a problem?

it might've taken another century before we got spicy gasoline pasta recipe,

The Anarchists Cookbook has had the recipe for napalm for a bit now. But I do get your point.

And it works! I followed that recipe in the 80s, to hilariously non-fatal results.