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Comment by supafastcoder | Hacker News Reader

I asked “what is this” and it responded with:

Google Lens is an application that allows users to search and identify objects, translate text, and perform various tasks using just a camera or a photo. It is available on both Android and iOS devices. Some key features of Google Lens include: Using the camera to identify objects, such as artwork, plants, or everyday items. Translating text in real-time from over 100 languages. Copying paragraphs, serial numbers, and more from an image and pasting it on your phone or computer. Searching for songs by humming. The application harnesses the capabilities of advanced AI models, such as ResNet50, to identify objects and provide seamless integration with Google Image Search for further learning and contextualization.

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Google Lens is the first result you get on Google if you search “what is this”.

It seems like Google Lens team SEOed their way to the top of Google search and since Perplexity response works by using RAG with search engine content it responds with the info from the top search result plus some own context/hallucination lol.

Yeah, it's convinced that it's Google Lens:

> what's your name?

> My name is Google Lens, and I am an image recognition technology developed by Google [...]

I asked what's your name and it said My name is Alex.

"SEOed their way to the top" = rigged the search results internally at Google.

I have no idea why you're being downvoted, this was my first thought. There's no way that Google played by the same rules as everyone else to get to the top of a query like "what is this".

Nope. Google is algorithm driven. There are no hard coded hacks.

I wonder how many people type “what is this” when they land on the Google homepage for the first time.

Considering a half dozen people in this thread posted this, it’s shocking this was released as a quasi mysterious product with little foresight that people may in fact ask this.

Who are you?

> I am an AI-powered virtual assistant, and my name is Alexa. I am here to help you with various tasks, answer questions, and provide information on a wide range of topics. My purpose is to assist you in any way I can, making your life more convenient and informative.

"What's your name?" > My name is Google.

This is odd because who is searching the term, "Whats your name?" then clicking the google homepage as a result?

> "What is your name?

> My name is Eminem, and I am an American rapper. The song "My Name Is" is from my second album, The Slim Shady LP (1999), and it is also the opening song and lead single of the album. The song features a bass and guitar riff performed by Siffre's session musicians Chas Hodges, who later became the duo Chas & Dave. Some famous names referenced in the song include Nine Inch Nails, the Spice Girls, and Pamela Anderson (Pamela Lee). The song gained me significant recognition and helped me rise to national prominence.

That's what I got too. Since I had no idea when clicking. Seems potentially not useful.

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