Dear AI hype train, stop confusing novel for useful

ChatGPT is coming for Google Search, or is it?

Photo by Volodymyr Hryshchenko on Unsplash

At the moment it’s hard to read anything on the Internet without coming across some article or another proclaiming that search is about to be changed forever. The culprit is ChatGPT, a large language model (LLM) that has thrown up some incredible results in a very short space of time. Microsoft promptly invested $10 billion into it and is rolling it out with Bing and their Office Suite. 100 million people had tried the free version in the first month. Google declared a code red. Microsoft’s share price has rocketed. Google’s tanked after their AI chatbot got an answer wrong. We live in exciting times.

ChatGPT promises to allow people to have a conversation with a computer. It can write poems, it can pass the Google coding interview, if can summarise documents, a judge has used it in formulating a legal argument, it is multilingual, teachers are terrified their pupils will do their homework with it, you can ask it questions and have a conversation about the answers. The list goes on and on.

Now, don’t get me wrong, these are incredible outcomes and represent a seismic shift in the state of the art. But, all the hype stops the important question — is it useful as a replacement for search? Because, ultimately this is what Microsoft wants to break into.

Let’s try it with an example. Imagine I want to go on holiday with a 5 year old child. It starts off well by listing the things that I should watch out for.

As a 5 year old child is still relatively young, it is best to consider a destination that is safe, child-friendly, and offers plenty of activities and attractions that are suitable for kids. Here are a few options that you might consider:

Theme Parks — If your child loves fun and excitement, you can take them to a theme park, such as Disney World, Universal Studios, or Legoland.

Beach Resorts — A beach holiday is always a popular choice for families, as there are plenty of opportunities for swimming, building sandcastles, and playing in the sun.

National Parks — If you’re looking for a more natural setting, you might consider visiting a national park, such as Yosemite, Yellowstone, or the Grand Canyon, which offer…