by LONDON (AP) – It’s not just you. Many people think that Google searches are getting worse. And the rise of AI-generated chatbots is giving people new and different ways to search for information.
Although Google has been the one-stop-shop for years — after all, we commonly call searches “googling” — “search engine optimization” techniques have fueled a flood of sponsored or spammy links and junk content because his long reign. That puts pressure on really useful results.
A recent study by German researchers suggests that the quality of results from Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo is declining. Google says its quality results are significantly better than its competitors, citing measurements from third parties.
Now, chatbots powered by artificial intelligence generation, including from Google itself, are poised to change the way search works. But they have their own issues: Because the technology is so new, there are concerns about the accuracy and reliability of AI chatbots.
If you want to try the AI route, here’s how:
WHERE DOES SHE HAVE AI SEARCH TOOLS?
Google users don’t have to look far. The company launched its own chatbot AI assistant last year, called Bard, but recently ditched that name and replaced it with a similar service, Gemini.
Bard users are now redirected to the Gemini site, which can be accessed directly on desktop or mobile browsers.
The Gemini app also launched in the US this month and is rolling out in Japanese, Korean and English worldwide – except for Britain, Switzerland and Europe – according to an updated announcement, which suggests more countries and languages are “coming soon.”
Google is also testing a new search offering, called “Search Generative Experience” that replaces links with a picture of key information generated by AI. But it’s limited to US users who sign up through its experimental Labs site.
Microsoft’s Bing search engine has offered AI-generated searches powered by OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology for about a year, initially under the name Bing Chat, now rebranded as Copilot.
On the Bing search home page, click the Chat or Copilot button below the search window and you’ll get a chat interface where you type in your question. There is also a Copilot app.
A number of AI search startup sites have emerged, but they are not as easy to find. A standard Google search isn’t that helpful, but a search for Copilot and Bard turned up several names, including Perplexity, HuggingChat, You.com, Komo, Andi, Phind, Exa and AskAI.
DO YOU NEED TO REGISTER OR PAY FOR IT?
Most of these services have free versions. They usually limit the number of questions you can do but offer advanced levels that provide smarter AI and more features.
Gemini users, for example, can pay $20 for the advanced version, which comes with access to its “most capable” model, Ultra 1.0.
Gemini users must be signed into their Google accounts and be at least 13 years old — 18 in Europe or Canada. Copilot users do not need to sign in to a Microsoft account and can access the service through Bing search or the Copilot homepage.
Most startup sites are free to use and don’t require setting up an account. Many of them also have premium levels.
HOW DO I SEARCH FOR IT?
Rather than typing a string of keywords, AI should be talking questions — for example, “Is Taylor Swift the most successful female musician?” or “Where are good places to travel in Europe this summer?”
The concern advises using “natural everyday language.” Phind says it’s best to ask “complete and detailed questions” that start with, say, “what” or “how.”
If you’re not satisfied with an answer, some sites allow you to ask follow-up questions to zero in on the information needed. Some offer suggested or related questions.
Microsoft’s Copilot allows you to choose three different conversation styles: creative, fair or precise.
WHAT ARE THE RESULTS?
Unlike Google search results that provide a list of links, including sponsored links, AI chatbots spit out a readable summary of the information, sometimes with a few key links as footnotes. The answers will vary — sometimes widely — depending on the location.
They can shine when you’re searching for obscure facts, like, say, details about European Union policy.
Answers from Phind.com were among the most readable and consistently provided in narrative form. But the site has mysteriously gone offline at certain points.
Test a simple question — what is the average temperature in London for the second half of February? — range of similar results on most sites: 7-9 degrees Celsius (45-48 degrees Fahrenheit).
Andi provided current weather conditions for New York, although he used the correct city during a later attempt.
Another search – names and tenures of CEOs of British luxury car maker Aston Martin – is the kind of information available online but requires some work to compile.
Most sites have come up with names from the last decade or so. AskAI provided a list dated 1947, along with its three favorite “authoritative sources”, but no links.
WHAT ARE THE DESCENDANTS?
Although chatbots seem authoritative because they give answers that seem to be written by a confident person, they are not always correct. AI chatbots are known for providing deceptively convincing answers, known as “convincing”.
These AI systems scan large amounts of information extracted from the web, known as large language models, and then use algorithms to come up with coherent answers, but not all of them show how they arrived at their answers.
Some AI chatbots reveal the models their algorithms have been trained on. Others provide little or no data. The best advice is to try more than one and compare the results, and always double check sources.
For example, at one point Komo claimed that the population of Canada in 1991 was about 1 million people and he stood by this incorrect number even after I followed up to ask if he was sure. He cited a Wikipedia page, which showed that the figure came from a table for the country’s indigenous population. It got the right number when I tried again later.
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