I was just thinking exactly the same. Basic web search has become so horrible that AI is being used as its replacement.

I found it a sad condemnation of how far the tech industry has fallen into enshittification and is failing to provide tools that are actually useful.

▲

gh0stcat 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

We always had the technology to do things better, it's the money making part that has made things worse technologically speaking. In this same way, I don't see how AI will resolve the problem - our productivity was never the goal, and that won't change any time soon.

▲

johnnyanmac 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

And it'll happen again when AI models start resorting to ads once again.

	▲	emptybits 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Yup. Any LLM recommendation for a product or service should be viewed with suspicion (no different than web search results or asking a commission-based human their opinion). Sponsored placements. Affiliate links. Etc. Or when asking an LLM for a comparison matrix or pros and cons between choices ... beware paid placements or sponsors. Bias could be a result of available training data (forgivable?) or due to paid prioritization (or de-prioritizing of competitors!)

▲

Wobbles42 an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

Their tools are very useful. To their customers. Not to their users.