4 ms·

Well, search engines and my ability to query them aren't good enough for highly specific or poorly worded questions yet. LLMs are sometimes better in this space

Well, search engines and my ability to query them aren't good enough for highly specific or poorly worded questions yet. LLMs are sometimes better in this space.

jwells89 3y ago
Indeed, a frequent issue with search engines is knowing the right terms plug into them, particularly when researching a topic beyond one's scope of knowledge. Half the power of LLMs as they currently exist is that they can often extract the intention of the user's question in a way that search engines usually can't, allowing them to provide a more useful answer or at least point the user in the right direction. Perhaps it would make sense for search engines to utilize LLMs to perform this query extraction and suggest more appropriate search terms, engaging conversational interaction only if the suggestions are wrong and the LLM requires further clarification.
- lalopalota 3y ago
  I agree. Use the LLM to construct a better search query, then return those results and the query to the user. The user can modify the "optimized" query and repeat until a usefull answer is obtained.
- worrycue 3y ago
  > Half the power of LLMs as they currently exist is that they can often extract the intention of the user's question in a way that search engines usually can't I don’t know about that. Google is pretty good at including “similar” questions that others have asked to what I have queried and often that’s exactly what I needed.
  - jwells89 3y ago
    In my experience, Google's ability to suggest "similar" queries is often limited if I don't know the terminology associated with the subject in question. It's decent if you're already in the ballpark, but to extend the analogy if you're stuck trying to figure out where the park is in the first place it's much more hit or miss.
    - worrycue 3y ago
      I “fish” with google when I don’t know the terminology is what I’m saying. With some luck Google will have correct question on the first page of the search results.

Well, search engines and my ability to query them aren't good enough for highly specific or poorly worded questions yet. LLMs are sometimes better in this space.

jwells89 3y ago

Indeed, a frequent issue with search engines is knowing the right terms plug into them, particularly when researching a topic beyond one's scope of knowledge. Half the power of LLMs as they currently exist is that they can often extract the intention of the user's question in a way that search engines usually can't, allowing them to provide a more useful answer or at least point the user in the right direction. Perhaps it would make sense for search engines to utilize LLMs to perform this query extraction and suggest more appropriate search terms, engaging conversational interaction only if the suggestions are wrong and the LLM requires further clarification.

lalopalota 3y ago
I agree. Use the LLM to construct a better search query, then return those results and the query to the user. The user can modify the "optimized" query and repeat until a usefull answer is obtained.
worrycue 3y ago
> Half the power of LLMs as they currently exist is that they can often extract the intention of the user's question in a way that search engines usually can't I don’t know about that. Google is pretty good at including “similar” questions that others have asked to what I have queried and often that’s exactly what I needed.
- jwells89 3y ago
  In my experience, Google's ability to suggest "similar" queries is often limited if I don't know the terminology associated with the subject in question. It's decent if you're already in the ballpark, but to extend the analogy if you're stuck trying to figure out where the park is in the first place it's much more hit or miss.
  - worrycue 3y ago
    I “fish” with google when I don’t know the terminology is what I’m saying. With some luck Google will have correct question on the first page of the search results.