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Study: Young users (9 to 18Y) ditch Google for AI, with unknown consequences

66 points · 119 comments · giuliomagnifico

  1. lordnacho · · focus · HN ↗
    AI is my default for just about any search now. From today:

    How did Cantor come up with his diagonal proof? It seems to have been dreamed out of nowhere

    Why are there advertisements for a shampoo containing caffeine? Does caffeine do something useful other than when you drink it?

    What happens in sense and sensibility?

    All of them give a decent answer, with the ability to ask follow ups. Eg, how does S&S compare with Pride and Prejudice? What about more recent novels connecting romantic choices with economic choices?

    All of them give you links to source material, in case you suspect they are just making it up.

    At the start of the millennium, Google search changed everything about how I look for information. Now it seems outdated.

    1. gonzalohm · · focus · HN ↗
      But LLMs are getting pretty good at convincing you. By using AI you are basically being fed information. It may be accurate now, but you are losing the ability to compare results. Not only that but I would argue you are also losing critical thinking skills
      1. lordnacho · · focus · HN ↗
        Why? AI is a lot closer to the original way of doing things, which was to ask an expert.

        The expert would then give you his thoughts on which modern books are most similar to S&S/P&P, and you would have to use your own thoughts to decide whether you agreed.

        In many ways I find it similar to tutorials. You can go back and forth with the AI if there is something in the argument you want to investigate.

        1. gonzalohm · · focus · HN ↗
          That's the right way to do it. You go back and forth so you are not taking what the AI says at face value. The problem is that some people are. The other way I posted a problem in Slack and someone just replied "Claude says to use - -debug to find the issue" and I was like "- - debug is not even an option for the tool we are using!!"
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