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Does anyone remember, probably 2-3 years ago, when there was a constant stream of articles here about "voice search"? Seeing the current stream of ChatGPT artic

Does anyone remember, probably 2-3 years ago, when there was a constant stream of articles here about "voice search"? Seeing the current stream of ChatGPT articles, and the similarity with that previous episode, I begin to suspect astroturfing. We had many articles saying that voice search (aka Siri and Alexa) was going to destroy traditional search. Fast forward a couple of years and then we have a stream of articles about layoffs in the Alexa group because it was obviously such a dumb assumption to think that people would want to do voice search. This whole ChatGPT-fest feels the same to me. How many years before we see a stream of articles about layoffs in the AI groups at BigCo because it was obviously a dumb idea to use AI to drive search?

yucky 4y ago
Yeah my initial thoughts went there as well, but the issue with voice search was always that at it's core it didn't change anything other than the method of input. Fundamentally, whether I type in "best Italian restaurant near me" or say "Hey Siri, what is the best Italian restaurant near me" the result is the same. ChatGPT is such a paradigm shifting technology because of the output.
- wkat4242 4y ago
  Also, the ability of GPT to have an actual conversation without restating the same over and over with Siri makes voice search so much more viable. You can't ask it about a restaurant and then say "what time does it open" or "do they have pasta options on the menu?"
dougmwne 4y ago
I know where you are coming from, but I don’t agree. Voice Assistants were always a toy. It was pretty clear from day 1. Using LLM as a replacement for search is an intriguing possibility. I have started using it alongside Google and Wikipedia to try to break into new topics. It is useful in a new way, but its ability to make up info is a flaw that may prevent it from ever being a truly helpful tool. Nevertheless, it has a proven value and a place in the world right this very moment. I can certainly imagine a more refined and truthful version of this that can cite its sources and access real-time data taking over Search, but we seem to be a long way off from that dream still.
- lagrange77 4y ago
  > I have started using it alongside Google and Wikipedia to try to break into new topics. It is useful in a new way, but its ability to make up info is a flaw that may prevent it from ever being a truly helpful tool. Exactly! Getting an introduction to new subjects is also my favourite use case, while it's this use case, that suffers a lot from wrong information, since the users lacks domain knowledge to tell. > I can certainly imagine a more refined and truthful version of this that can cite its sources and access real-time data taking over Search, but we seem to be a long way off from that dream still. Right, truthfulness (as per the training data of course) and citation would fix the most significant shortcomings.
  - dougmwne 4y ago
    I have seen some really fascinating recursive approaches to GTP where formal logic and flow are used to conditionally re-prompt GTP to keep refining the answer. I think there will be an incredible power in combining the “intuitive” abilities of GTP with more traditional analytical AI approaches.

yucky 4y ago

Yeah my initial thoughts went there as well, but the issue with voice search was always that at it's core it didn't change anything other than the method of input. Fundamentally, whether I type in "best Italian restaurant near me" or say "Hey Siri, what is the best Italian restaurant near me" the result is the same. ChatGPT is such a paradigm shifting technology because of the output.

wkat4242 4y ago
Also, the ability of GPT to have an actual conversation without restating the same over and over with Siri makes voice search so much more viable. You can't ask it about a restaurant and then say "what time does it open" or "do they have pasta options on the menu?"

dougmwne 4y ago

I know where you are coming from, but I don’t agree. Voice Assistants were always a toy. It was pretty clear from day 1. Using LLM as a replacement for search is an intriguing possibility. I have started using it alongside Google and Wikipedia to try to break into new topics. It is useful in a new way, but its ability to make up info is a flaw that may prevent it from ever being a truly helpful tool. Nevertheless, it has a proven value and a place in the world right this very moment. I can certainly imagine a more refined and truthful version of this that can cite its sources and access real-time data taking over Search, but we seem to be a long way off from that dream still.

lagrange77 4y ago
> I have started using it alongside Google and Wikipedia to try to break into new topics. It is useful in a new way, but its ability to make up info is a flaw that may prevent it from ever being a truly helpful tool. Exactly! Getting an introduction to new subjects is also my favourite use case, while it's this use case, that suffers a lot from wrong information, since the users lacks domain knowledge to tell. > I can certainly imagine a more refined and truthful version of this that can cite its sources and access real-time data taking over Search, but we seem to be a long way off from that dream still. Right, truthfulness (as per the training data of course) and citation would fix the most significant shortcomings.
- dougmwne 4y ago
  I have seen some really fascinating recursive approaches to GTP where formal logic and flow are used to conditionally re-prompt GTP to keep refining the answer. I think there will be an incredible power in combining the “intuitive” abilities of GTP with more traditional analytical AI approaches.