The stir created by the release of ChatGPT3 at the end of November in 2022 has been powerful and continues to grow. Articles written about the generative chatbot AI tool (currently with a free, and now also a “pro” version for $42) seem to multiply by the hour. And no one knows how many articles are also getting at least a partial assist from the service.
There are many that are tapping into the OpenAI API for ChatGPT and adding or extending functions and features, such as a brand new SincodeAI which comes out of Sweden and has front end features and an array of “60+ tools” that help users to guide ai in a variety of predetermined use cases, tailored for real world needs.
This kind of layered human guidance engine approach is an emerging category that is just now beginning to become viable as ChatGPT and other AI tools go live and improve.
On the horizon, even more ways to interact with AI bots, apps and tools
The embrace of generative AI, particularly for creating text based output from ChatGPT, has been swift. First was the admission by CNET that they had published nearly 100 articles using ChatGPT, and then, on January 26th 2023, Buzzfeed announced that they were in preparation to publish ChatGPT assisted content without apology.
As BuzzFeed co-founder Jonah Peretti wrote in a memo sent to staff members and published on the site:
“In 2023, you’ll see AI inspired content move from an R&D stage to part of our core business enhancing the quiz experience, informing our brainstorming, and personalizing our content for our audience. In tough economic times, we need to fight for every penny of revenue, and try to save every penny of costs”
This is, no doubt, the beginning of an avalanche of AI assisted content about to explode into being. Never mind all the hand wringing and soul searching going on in schools and by authors concerned for their livelihoods, the cat is out of the bag, the cow has left the barn, it’s all out there and there’s no turning back.
Google has already come to terms with an AI assisted world of content
As we noted in a recent post, Google has made it clear that it is not concerned with what tools (AI or otherwise) you may use to create content, but rather what it perceives as the quality of the final product. And, apparently, search result rankings will not be based or influenced by the presence or absence of AI “fingerprints”.
And regarding those sought after search results, there’s a new kid in town, an AI chat style search assistant is live and hitting the bricks with a confident swagger:
“Search is broken because of SEO spam, ads, and surveillance capitalism. Andi cuts through the clutter to get you straight to the knowledge you need. It presents results visually in a way that’s easy to understand with a simple chat interface, and protects you from ad tech and distraction.“
Andisearch.com is a “conversational search engine” that uses the now ever-more-familiar chatbot style interface to “to answer questions simply, find you the best information, and help you stay safe and productive online” according to the sites about us page.
I took a test drive and the result was…. refreshing, new and might just give Google yet another reason to be concerned about the future. Particularly on mobile, for which it appears to be designed, the uncluttered simple yet powerful interface is extremely functional and smooth.
There are a lot of takeaways – but the one that stands out in my mind is that they are living up to the promise of doing away with the “SEO spam, ads, and surveillance capitalism” – I test some urls that are “shadow banned” on Google search, or at least not favored for lack of benefit to Google, and they showed up loud and proud in the first result. That is huge.
If you have spent your life trying to win at rigging a rigged system, or paying to be favored in Google search results, that may not be a soothing thought. But if you want to see the most relevant search result as a user it’s hits like a revelation.
And if you want to see a bunch of results they are “boxed” into neat little packages, with logos letting you know what web site they are connected to, that you can scroll through like you are on TikTok or FlipBoard or any modern UX for browsing mobile results.
Compared to the various Google style “alternative” search engines this comes across as a real breakthrough – the conversational style – where you can ask using a ChatGPT style prompt and get a single descriptive answer – or you can do a more traditional search query and then get a scrollable batch of results that are presorted by relevance – depending on how detailed your query is you control the result, in theory.
The interface is so clean, if available within the results, there’s a separate tab for Images, again a clean single series of identically sized images, that can be downloaded or sent to a separate tab with incredible simplicity, as well as a tab for videos with the exact same UX style.
The “reader” view is not hidden but is the second choice at the bottom of each boxed result preview. The first choice is “visit” which opens a full page browser view of the site you’ve chosen. A third option called “Summarize” appears to be in development as it was not yet live at the time of this writing.
With simplicity comes speed and, perhaps, clarity
The overall result is a completely new, uncluttered experience for searching and discovering content. It is still unclear if the chatbot function, basically the ability to synthesize results based on the content of the target results, will prove powerful enough for this to be a two-for-one dream come true.
But just as a deeper, cleaner, faster and possibly better way to search and discover web content, it’s my choice ahead of Google, or at least side by side.
Lynxotic may receive a small commission based on any purchases made by following links from this page