Will Generative AI Replace Search Engines?
When ChatGPT came out, it shook the socks right off Google as there were fears that it will replace search engines. This prompted Google to push out Bard (Beta) which as a Google supporter, is pretty disappointing at the start at least. I do hope Bard can be on par with ChatGPT soon.
Coming back, if you have join in some of my discussions with friends, you will know my stand has always been, and till the writing of this newsletter, has not changed and that is Generative AI will not replace search engines. Why is that so? Let’s look at two types of Generative AI and we can discuss them individually.
Text
Let us compare ChatGPT with Search Engines in general. You can see ChatGPT as like talking to another person where it shares with you what it knows, be it true or false. So it is up to us user to ascertain its truth which to me is good news because if we talk to an actual human, we might even need to ascertain what is the personal agenda too.
How about search engine then? In a search engine, we usually get 10 possible results with preview on the same result page. This is actually good in that it is like 10 people giving a quick and brief answer to a question. You can at least made a judgment quickly on the truth or probability of it rather. That to me is useful given that we are inundated with so much information.
So to me the biggest difference is that ChatGPT will have a more individual touch as compared to search engine which is more of a research touch. That means it can fulfil different needs imo.
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Images
While image generation like Mid-journey or StableDiffusion can generate images quickly, to get the precise image that you need takes a lot of practice on prompt engineering. This means that by the time you are able to generate the image that you need, you probably have spent a lot of time getting to the “right” prompt that leads to the close to ideal images.
For image search engines, it provides a different story. Instead what it does is to provide exposure to ideas. You get an avalanche of images that others have generated which provides you more ideas on your required images the look and feel you are seeking, a research purpose again similar to text.
Again you can see that it satisfy different needs in the image generation section.
What are your thoughts on this? Please share them in the “Comments”. :)
Recommended Content
Thu Ya and I have an introductory discussion on Generative AI on our Symbolic Connection Podcast <Podcast>
What will be the New Normal like with Generative AI? I made a speculation in this blog post. <Blog>