this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2024
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[–] Kaelygon 11 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Google search results are often completely unrelated so it's not any better. If the thing I'm looking for is obscure, AI often finds some thread that I can follow, but I always double check that information.
Know your tool limits, after hundreds of prompts I've learned pretty well when the AI is spitting bullshit answers. Real people on the internet can be just as wrong and biased, so it's best to find multiple independent sources

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 days ago

This is a basic element of information gathering. Always check the source!

[–] Sam_Bass 13 points 6 days ago

Biggest reason I stopped using Google

[–] Agent641 7 points 5 days ago

When search engines stop being shit, I will.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 days ago (2 children)

In general I agree with the sentiment of the article, but I think the broader issue is media literacy. When the Internet came about, people had similar reservations about the quality of information, and most of us learned in school how to find quality information online.

LLMs are a tool, and people need to learn how to use them correctly and responsibly. I’ve been using Perplexity.AI as a search engine for a while now, and I think they’re taking the right approach. It employs LLMs at different stages to parse your query, perform web searches on your behalf, and summarize findings. It provides in-text citations as well, which is an opportunity for a media-literate person to confirm the validity of anything important.

[–] captainlezbian 14 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Ok but may I point you to the reality that internet spread misinformation is a critically bad problem at the moment

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 days ago

Okay, but what else to do with it?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 days ago (12 children)
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[–] [email protected] 15 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago (16 children)

I ask GPT for random junk all the time. If it's important, I'll double-check the results. I take any response with a grain of salt, though.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 6 days ago (8 children)

Who else is going to aggregate those recipes for me without having to scroll past ads a personal blog bs?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (3 children)

Eh....I got it to find a product that met the specs I was looking for on Amazon when no other search worked. It's certainly a last resort but it worked. Idk why whenever I'm looking to buy anything lately somehow the only criteria I care about are never documented properly...

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It's useful to point you in the right direction, but anything beyond that necessitates more research

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 days ago

I mean, it gave me exactly what I asked for. The only further research was to actually read the item description to verify that but I could have blindly accepted it and received what I was looking for.

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