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It's hard to get past the beginning of this article and take it at all seriously. The quote someone who missed a sunset because they asked google and supposedly

It's hard to get past the beginning of this article and take it at all seriously. The quote someone who missed a sunset because they asked google and supposedly got the wrong time... but they didn't think to look at the sun or lack thereof to check? Also when I put "when does the sun set today" I get a single exact figure at the top of my results, not from AI, which is honestly the best kind of result – an exact correct answer.

tayo42 2mo ago
They were planning their day for a specific time to be somewhere. If you're looking at the sun it's to late...
- BeetleB 2mo ago
  That's fine, but arguing that Google should give accurate times based on where you are is ... crazy? In the pre-LLM days it was cool that Google did weather, unit conversions, sports results, etc. But that's not even close to their value proposition. Even 5 years ago if someone told me they had planned a photograph and got it wrong because Google gave them the wrong time for sunset, I would have called them a moron for relying on Google! There are sites and apps dedicated to this. Use one of them!
  - Dylan16807 2mo ago
    I don't understand your argument. It's not their core value proposition so it's crazy? That's quite a leap. But giving a good answer is just as core as their search results. The answer is what you're there for and they get to show ads. It's not any stupider to use that info than a dedicated site. Both could be wrong, and you're not a moron if it is. Installing an app to learn a single time would be the real moron option.
    - BeetleB 2mo ago
      > But giving a good answer is just as core as their search results. What I'm saying is all Google has to do is stop giving those types of "custom" answers it already has. No one will abandon using Search if it goes away. > It's not any stupider to use that info than a dedicated site. Both could be wrong, and you're not a moron if it is. It is. Using a well vetted, dedicated app is the way to go, and it's extremely unlikely to be wrong - especially for something like sunset times. You know the dedicated app/site is, well, dedicated to providing that information. They exist to provide that information. Whereas the (pre-LLM) quick answers Google gave? All opaque. And smart people always knew that information being accurate was not something that matters that much to Google.
      - Dylan16807 2mo ago
        To borrow an analogy, installing a dedicated app starts at negative one hundred points. The risk of bad behavior and junky ads needs a lot of use to overcome. I'm not sure where "well vetted" came from since your first post but doing that vetting takes much longer than getting the answer! And without vetting there's a good enough chance a dedicated site is worse than a dedicated Google widget (the ai is bottom of the barrel). Let's not forget that Google's actual sunset widget does a good job.
- mr_mitm 2mo ago
  From the article: > “I had the projector set up outside and was waiting for the sun to set,” wrote one Facebook user in Colorado Springs, “but to my surprise I was simply living in the past. AI informed me the sunset had already happened.” It does sound a bit bizarre.
  - Melatonic 2mo ago
    We really need a SarcasmAI to become a thing.

tayo42 2mo ago

They were planning their day for a specific time to be somewhere. If you're looking at the sun it's to late...

BeetleB 2mo ago
That's fine, but arguing that Google should give accurate times based on where you are is ... crazy? In the pre-LLM days it was cool that Google did weather, unit conversions, sports results, etc. But that's not even close to their value proposition. Even 5 years ago if someone told me they had planned a photograph and got it wrong because Google gave them the wrong time for sunset, I would have called them a moron for relying on Google! There are sites and apps dedicated to this. Use one of them!
- Dylan16807 2mo ago
  I don't understand your argument. It's not their core value proposition so it's crazy? That's quite a leap. But giving a good answer is just as core as their search results. The answer is what you're there for and they get to show ads. It's not any stupider to use that info than a dedicated site. Both could be wrong, and you're not a moron if it is. Installing an app to learn a single time would be the real moron option.
  - BeetleB 2mo ago
    > But giving a good answer is just as core as their search results. What I'm saying is all Google has to do is stop giving those types of "custom" answers it already has. No one will abandon using Search if it goes away. > It's not any stupider to use that info than a dedicated site. Both could be wrong, and you're not a moron if it is. It is. Using a well vetted, dedicated app is the way to go, and it's extremely unlikely to be wrong - especially for something like sunset times. You know the dedicated app/site is, well, dedicated to providing that information. They exist to provide that information. Whereas the (pre-LLM) quick answers Google gave? All opaque. And smart people always knew that information being accurate was not something that matters that much to Google.
    - Dylan16807 2mo ago
      To borrow an analogy, installing a dedicated app starts at negative one hundred points. The risk of bad behavior and junky ads needs a lot of use to overcome. I'm not sure where "well vetted" came from since your first post but doing that vetting takes much longer than getting the answer! And without vetting there's a good enough chance a dedicated site is worse than a dedicated Google widget (the ai is bottom of the barrel). Let's not forget that Google's actual sunset widget does a good job.
mr_mitm 2mo ago
From the article: > “I had the projector set up outside and was waiting for the sun to set,” wrote one Facebook user in Colorado Springs, “but to my surprise I was simply living in the past. AI informed me the sunset had already happened.” It does sound a bit bizarre.
- Melatonic 2mo ago
  We really need a SarcasmAI to become a thing.