A New Way to Search

[DontAsk]

Hope this isn't too off topic, but I agree with this article that perplexity is going to be a killer app. Search with AI but it lists its sources so you can verify the results rather than be fooled by the cruft that you get with other AI search.

A few quick tests show it's very good for the sorts of things I am interested in.

 

[fisicx]

Read the comments on that article. It’s not that good.

I’ve tried it and it makes things up - even worse, it got medical information wrong.

 

[zomex]

AI or not there's nothing there that Google isn't already doing better. Can't see any search engine taking over Google. Too much money and user base. Google can implement any AI feature very quickly whenver they choose to. They are already using it for many searches.

 

[fisicx]

Perplexity keeps asking me to sign up using Google!

It's rubbish for image, video and map searches. It doesn't do local searches at all well.

I'm sure it will have it's aficionados but even though google is getting worse it's still far better than perplexity. For now....

 

[antropy]

A few quick tests show it's very good for the sorts of things I am interested in.

My initial tests are promising - it seems very accurate and very fast.

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

All depends on what you are looking for. I asked for info on a php function attributes and it referenced the wrong function

 

[antropy]

All depends on what you are looking for. I asked for info on a php function attributes and it referenced the wrong function

What function did you ask about?

A test for me asking about preg_replace() worked perfectly.

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

It was a complex query about merging three dimensional arrays with override. It suggested array_merge which doesn’t work well with nested arrays (the whole nested array is replaced).

Can’t recall the exact prompt I wrote but perplexity didn’t get it right. Lots of correct answers on stackoverflow.

 

[antropy]

It was a complex query about merging three dimensional arrays with override.

Well there we go then, you're expecting AGI when what we have is not quite that, but incredibly useful in most cases.

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

Well there we go then, you're expecting AGI when what we have is not quite that, but incredibly useful in most cases.

Yes, but it’s not a replacement for Google. Not sure it ever will be.

 

[antropy]

Yes, but it’s not a replacement for Google. Not sure it ever will be.

Considering the rate of improvement I think it's pretty inevitable.

Paul.

 

[fisicx]

Considering the rate of improvement I think it's pretty inevitable.

They fix the image search, shopping, maps, local search and so on first.

Do a a search for 'pictures of frozen shoulder'. It tells me to search stock photo websites! With Google I do the search, click on images and it's all good.

But the most annoying thing about perplexity are the constant nags to sign up (with Google!). This alone will stop me using the service. And just look at all the tracking. Google is fully embedded.

I'm sure it's going to get a number of people using it but it has a long way to before it topples any of the search engines.