Microsoft Windows

@[email protected] While I do understand the sentiment, I think the problem with search has been more the ads than anything else

Things like the AI overviews are bad, but search has been more or less powered by AI for a while, it's really just been this new bout of generative AI where they're really saying it out loud

But even without that GenAI, search results have been getting significantly worse for a bit now

@[email protected] Where's the entry for "Much Much Worse"!!!!

@[email protected] About the same. Before, you had to do "topic site:reddit.com" to find results. These days, you just type in what you are searching and the AI just matter of factly regurgitates whatever someone else said on Reddit five years ago. #search #reddit #computer #linux

Definitely worse. But I think the bigger problem is the amount of what a search engine returns being AI drivel that has been seo'd to fuck. Sometimes it feels like actively using an AI tool is the only option to ferret out a real answer in a timely fashion (which is also a problem.)

I have a horrible feeling that we are all to soon going to find ourselves with an internet that can only be reasonably interpreted through an AI intermediary like some kind of familiar spirit.

Good thing those can always be trusted right?

@[email protected]

Linus Torvalds: 90% of AI marketing is hype

https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/29/linus_torvalds_ai_hype/?td=rt-3a

@[email protected] It depends, on one hand the ability to summarize multiple searh results is a neat feature that saves time, but on the other hand SEO spam has gotten worse.

@[email protected] As for Google, I don't see any difference in search results before or after AI was introduced. However, the AI-derived text that appears above the search results is annoying.

@[email protected] I mean, when AI search results talk about putting glue on pizza and eating a rock a day, you know things are off to a shaky start! 😂

Surely you jest.

@jon I made use of DDG's AI after I couldn't quite answer my hard question in the results and it basically came to the same conclusion as me several times. I think its worthwhile to use AI for questions of less importance to save some time. I haven't noticed any degeneration of ddg's search results.

@[email protected] worse, but it’s indirect: AI has made the generation of SEO spam much more scalable than search engines’ ability to detect it.

@[email protected] Search results on “traditional” search engines are terrible. I use @[email protected] and I really like it, but AI helps me quickly find the right information when I know what I'm looking for but I don't remember the exact solution. I don't trust AI enough to ask it about critical things (e.g. health).

@[email protected] Difficult to say IMHO. I rarely use AI for search but apparently it happens in the background a lot. If I search for a specific thing it can get worse (interpreting for a different search phrase) or better (actually finding things). Dedicated AI searches are also a mixed bag. I have bad hallucinations as well as sources I was unable to find the traditional way.

@[email protected] I use AI above search machines. 🤖

@[email protected] Beautiful

@[email protected] About the same

@[email protected] Do you mean to ask if the internet is filling up with AI generated content? Or whether or not AI summaries provide value to search results? Because AI summaries do not replace or change search results themselves, they are added to the results.

@[email protected] I think it depends on the search engine being used.

@[email protected] Only tried this on Brave Search. Was kinda useful with web references.

@[email protected] TBF they had started going to shit already a few years earlier, but AI has just made it worse.