I've largely replaced Google with ChatGPT for looking things up
8 comments
·April 30, 2025BobbyTables2
I hate peoples unrealistic expectations of AI but also find Bing CoPilot to be really useful.
Instead of structuring a Google query in an attempt to find a relevant page filled with ads, I just ask Copilot and it gives a fully digested answer that satisfied my question.
What surprises me is that it needs very little context.
If I ask ‘ Linux "sort" command line for sorting the third column containing integers’, it replies with “ sort -k3,3n filename” along with explanations and extensions for tab separated columns.
TZubiri
I understand that they are products from different genereations, but there's also a incumbent/contender effect. Google's main goal isn't to grow or provide the best quality, but to monetize, while ChatGPT is early in its lifespan and focuses on losing money to gain users, and doesn't monetize a lot yet (no ads, at-cost or at-loss subscriptions).
Another effect is that Google has already been targetted for a lot of abuse, with SEO, backlinks, etc.. ChatGPT did not yet have many successful attempts at manipulating the essence of the mechanism to advertise by third parties.
Liftyee
I find AI to be mainly helpful at explaining new topics (precision not essential), but I don't trust exact facts and figures given by AI because of hallucination issues.
Maybe I just don't have the right ChatGPT++ subscription.
techpineapple
I’m curious what he’s looking up and does he double check his sources? As we gradually move more and more into AI I think there’s going to be some weird impacts of information being more strictly curated, and I wonder how “AI-think” will start to impact the public square.
moralestapia
Indeed, also no reason to go back to Google.
I wish there was a free Gmail alternative (if there's is lmk!).
TZubiri
Outlook
(also, there is no such thing as a free lunch https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_such_thing_as_a_free_lunch)
bigyabai
> but it hasn't changed anything about what I write.
I think most authors would argue the same thing, but it's really up to the readers to decide isn't it?
Google is turning into Alta Vista right before our eyes!
I have replaced Google with Perplexity. It backs up every answer with links, so I find it to be more trustable than ChatGPT.
Perplexity also keeps their index current, so you're not getting answers from the world as it existed 10 months ago. (ChatGPT says its knowledge cutoff is June 2024, Perplexity says its search index includes results up to April 29, 2025, and to prove it, it gives me that latest news.)