Source of Google AI summary an 11 year old Reddit comment | Hacker News Reader

Source of Google AI summary an 11 year old Reddit comment

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58 pointspraisewhitey7 comments

When Generative AI was first launched in Google Search, I ran a few test queries to see if it could find some old things I had done on the web. For example [ mylastname string library c++ myinstitution ]

Search produced a Generative AI result with a confabulation: it said that I had written an open source string library known as the "Mylastname C++ String Library" and even gave code examples of how to #include <mylastname.h> and use the API (which looks just like std::string).

I reported this to somebody who forwarded it on to the search team and also blogged about it. After a couple days, my blog was the top search result (not AI, just a search link), and after about 6 months, the generated AI result stopped showing up at all.

They may still be tuning the system but I don't think they are going to be able to create a true, reliable question answering system with what they have now.

Which is crazy to me, folks (at scale) are going to learn to distrust AI responses, why would GOOG be so short sighted here.

What is the alternative? This is not a minor bug; it is a core defect of the current generation of AI. Googles only option is to field AI within the constraints of current technology. Otherwise, they risk loosing marketshare to someone who will.

If the public looses trust in AI, that is not a problem for Google. Their position in the non-LLM search market is much more dominant than their position in the LLM search market.

The sooner the distrust of AI reaches a tipping point, the sooner we get back to traditional search which is their territory.

They used to be more cautious about releasing their AI products, but share holders didn't like it ...

I think the promise of utility and ease of use of AI will bring people back. They will see it get better and better, see other people using it effectively, hear from friends saying "it's gotten even better".

Sure, they might continue to have a bad experience here and there and be turned off of it for a while. But I am certain people will periodically come back to try.

The promises of AI are too tantalizing to ignore.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40448074

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