Thread

1. lordnacho · 1790070279 · 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 Now it seems outdated.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. yoavm · 1790072546 · focus · HN ↗

      It's interesting — "knowing how to search" used to be a skill. One wouldn't search for "How did Cantor come up with his diagonal proof?", but rather "cantor diagonal proof origin". You would see "normies" searching and wanted to bang your head against the wall seeing them searching like they're talking.

      But seems like they won? Why know how to search when you can simply ask your question. You can even tyipe it layke dat and it would still work.

      1. GuB-42 · 1790132504 · focus · HN ↗

         It wasn't a worthwhile skill anyways.

         Finding the right words to please the currently popular search engine is not a skill that easily translate elsewhere. It is not like programming where precision is key, searching has always been a bit fuzzy. Fact checking, crossing information, understanding primary sources, etc... these are real skills, typing words in a search engine is meh.

         That we now have language models that allow let machines capture the intent of the query without the need for special incantations is a clear win to me.

         Where LLMs are really excellent compared to search engines is when you don't really know what you want. You don't need to know about "Cantor diagonal proof", you just need to know "That math thing where you trace a diagonal across decimal numbers", and the LLM will immediately tell you about Cantor.

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