In the grand scheme of things, at least in relation to the evolution of AI, Google’s recent stumbles come at a rather inopportune time, but the concerns that made them actually address the controversy are worse than most know.
One of the things that generative AI can do really well is answer questions about information available on the internet. While that does not appear to have been the goal–or at least not the only goal–of those who brought us generative AI, it is one of the outcomes. Or, more specifically, replacing search does not seem to have been the goal.
But that is coming fast. While typing a couple of words and getting a list of results is quick and easy–enough so that searching the entire internet has a simple name these days—for many questions, typing a sentence, getting a response, typing some more and getting a refined response is faster. Oh, there is a ton of risk involved in trusting an AI to summarize things for you (as we’ve seen repeatedly, from several providers)—but that risk exists whether it’s AI or not, and is answered by insisting on source links for any fact-based answer. Telling you a story doesn’t need links; telling you about a product absolutely does.
We see that a bit in search engines now, with a short summary at the top that takes from some source the engine decided was authoritative, and the list of links that search engines have always returned below. AI can do this more thoroughly and, when managed responsibly (as opposed to what Google has been doing) can create higher-quality answers than simply quoting the top or “most authoritative” source.
The ability to search will be bolted onto a wide variety of products, meaning that the backend for such search will be what is left to products like Google and Bing. Each misstep by a vendor will drive product creators to want increasing control of their end of the AI, and failure to cater to those needs will drive both the product implementors and customers away from the backend vendors.
My advice? Watch and wait. Try using AI to search; it works really well at returning specific information and, when prompted, links also. This journey is going to be bumpy, and all indications are that the near-term economy won’t tolerate a lot of mistakes. Vendors will come and go, products will be better at one thing and less so at another. And to protect the org, don’t get carried away in the trend to invest in AI for every single product. That is the future, but there are a lot of twists and turns in the trail between here and there.
Note a specific thing that the organization needs help with and with which AI might be able to assist, then go looking for valid solutions. Don’t buy things just because it includes generative AI—have a purpose. And pay attention to what your existing vendors are doing.
Google isn’t even vaguely close to down-and-out; they have more money than most nations. But they are set back a long way, and will have to work to regain trust. For some, there is no path to regain trust, and Google will have to accept that.
And we need to be pragmatic. You work for a business, so make business decisions based on what is best for the business, no matter what others are doing. Keep knocking out astounding apps, and keep smiling—because AI is eventually going to make your job easier.