As with several others in this thread, I've been using Kagi's GPT-aided search, FastGPT, for much of this year, figuring I should probably dip my toes into what

As with several others in this thread, I've been using Kagi's GPT-aided search, FastGPT, for much of this year, figuring I should probably dip my toes into what LLMs are making possible, as well as their limits. For someone who's used online keyword-based search since the 1980s (computerised library catalogues, at the time), it's jarring for me to get over the distinction of querying for documents (old school) as opposed to asking direct questions, but that's precisely what LLM-based GPTs facilitate. And as I'd noted this past June, it's a sea change in online search: [O]ne of the upsides of GPTs / LLMs is that they provide direct answers to questions, though those answers may be hallucinations or generalisations. Even then, the directness is refreshing, though I expect it to also get polluted rapidly through both AI SEO manipulation and advertising / general enshittification of AI engines. <https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/112577405443953191 https://toot.cat/@dredmorbius/112577405443953191> I generally rely on Kagi's LLM for various reasons, but foremost is that it relies on current Web search and cites its findings specifically, which makes validating responses and detecting hallucinations far easier. ChatGPT specifically would hallucinate not only its responses but the citations it provided when those were requested, which curbed my enthusiasm greatly. It'll be interesting to see how its search-oriented offering fares. I strongly agree with Temporal's excellent observation that this is, at least for the moment, a strong shift of the Web back to serving readers rather than advertisers (first and foremost) and publishers (distant second): <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42011414 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42011414>. What I strongly suspect is that any successful GPT search tools will be rapidly engrossed by existing search monopolies. For those who defend the "free market" on the basis that competitors can emerge, the countervailing force of mergers and acquisitions must be noted, as well as the fact that these almost always effectively destroy that competitive potential, at least over the past half century or so.