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> despite Google probably having better tech What makes you so sure? Microsoft already has a fully productized LLM that people pay for and has in turn provided

by jakear 4y ago

> despite Google probably having better tech What makes you so sure? Microsoft already has a fully productized LLM that people pay for and has in turn provided real value to both users and the company (copilot). To assert that some other company has a better one but it's... not ready yet? is odd. I can't think of the last time Google made a new product. New as in "not a reimplementation of what another company already productized", product as in "people pay for it". I don't think they have what it takes. Edit: my bet is Google makes a free to play version that is ad supported, as they're want to do. The question is where do the ads go. The answer, most likely, is in the responses. So instead of reading the most likely continuation of a string, you get what the highest bidder wants the most likely continuation to be. Hooray.

Jensson 4y ago
You can buy flight tickets from Google, that is a relatively new product even if you buy them from the search result. So Google search is good at adding new products that are context sensitive to your query, I don't see why they couldn't make such things with a chat bot answering question queries instead of just trying to link to sites with answers.
- jakear 4y ago
  > a chat bot answering question queries instead of just trying to link to sites with answers And kill their golden goose? Google makes more money the longer you spend on their ad-ridden search result pages. I don't doubt they'll make a question answering bot, but the real question is how they fund it (see edit above for my guess).
  - Jensson 4y ago
    > Google makes more money the longer you spend on their ad-ridden search result pages. So why not keep people there by having an engaging chat bot? Could even refresh and add new context sensitive ads every time you ask something new.
  - kerpotgh 4y ago
    [dead]
  - swatcoder 4y ago
    A ChatGPT-like AI that's answering your question in the context of your recent search and browsing history can make a pretty darn sophisticated guess about what ads you might be primed to see. But deploying something like that at scale not only means developing the consumer experience but also the ad placement platform that generates optimal revenue from it. It's not a thing to toss over the wall just because ChatGPT won some news cycles.
  - riku_iki 4y ago
    > Google makes more money the longer you spend on their ad-ridden search result pages. Chat bots also can very naturally embed advertisement: btw, I think you would really love to check this related product which according to many reviews can help with the problem you just asked me about.
  - selcuka 4y ago
    > And kill their golden goose? Someone will kill their golden goose sooner or later. It's better if they kill it themselves and silently replace it with something else.
  - bemmu 4y ago
    Maybe while you ask questions to ChatLaMDA, it could also show a sidebar of relevant web pages mixed with AdWords results related to your questions. Although clicking on them might not be quite as natural as clicking as part of search results, so still massive damage to the golden goose.
brookst 4y ago
You hit the nail on the head. Google’s problem is business model, not technology. They need you to not know things so their advertisers can pay to inform you. A high quality LLM is exactly the opposite of what works for Google and their advertisers. I think Google has three choices: 1) reorient their business model to be about making money by providing direct value to the user, 2) pivot to be about ad-supported entertainment rather than productivity/information, or 3) cut costs, run as a cash cow, throw off as much profit as possible before obselesence.

by jakear 4y ago

Jensson 4y ago

You can buy flight tickets from Google, that is a relatively new product even if you buy them from the search result. So Google search is good at adding new products that are context sensitive to your query, I don't see why they couldn't make such things with a chat bot answering question queries instead of just trying to link to sites with answers.

jakear 4y ago
> a chat bot answering question queries instead of just trying to link to sites with answers And kill their golden goose? Google makes more money the longer you spend on their ad-ridden search result pages. I don't doubt they'll make a question answering bot, but the real question is how they fund it (see edit above for my guess).
- Jensson 4y ago
  > Google makes more money the longer you spend on their ad-ridden search result pages. So why not keep people there by having an engaging chat bot? Could even refresh and add new context sensitive ads every time you ask something new.
- kerpotgh 4y ago
  [dead]
- swatcoder 4y ago
  A ChatGPT-like AI that's answering your question in the context of your recent search and browsing history can make a pretty darn sophisticated guess about what ads you might be primed to see. But deploying something like that at scale not only means developing the consumer experience but also the ad placement platform that generates optimal revenue from it. It's not a thing to toss over the wall just because ChatGPT won some news cycles.
- riku_iki 4y ago
  > Google makes more money the longer you spend on their ad-ridden search result pages. Chat bots also can very naturally embed advertisement: btw, I think you would really love to check this related product which according to many reviews can help with the problem you just asked me about.
- selcuka 4y ago
  > And kill their golden goose? Someone will kill their golden goose sooner or later. It's better if they kill it themselves and silently replace it with something else.
- bemmu 4y ago
  Maybe while you ask questions to ChatLaMDA, it could also show a sidebar of relevant web pages mixed with AdWords results related to your questions. Although clicking on them might not be quite as natural as clicking as part of search results, so still massive damage to the golden goose.

brookst 4y ago

You hit the nail on the head. Google’s problem is business model, not technology. They need you to not know things so their advertisers can pay to inform you. A high quality LLM is exactly the opposite of what works for Google and their advertisers. I think Google has three choices: 1) reorient their business model to be about making money by providing direct value to the user, 2) pivot to be about ad-supported entertainment rather than productivity/information, or 3) cut costs, run as a cash cow, throw off as much profit as possible before obselesence.