Web search Chat GPT wants to compete with Google

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There has been speculation for months that chat GPT developer Open AI could challenge Google with its own search engine—and now the time has come.

Initially, a "small group of users" will be allowed to try out the service called Search GPT, which is designed to provide concrete answers to questions instead of links.A short video gave everyone else a foretaste. The search query: music festivals in August in the small town of Boone in the US state of North Carolina. Search GPT responds with a list of events including a short description and a link to the source of the information.

Wrong festival date

However, the very first entry contains an error. Search GPT claims that the Appalachian Summer Festival runs from July 29 to August 16—and refers to the website as the source. A writer for The Atlantic magazine took the trouble to look it up—and was in for a surprise. Right at the beginning, it says in large letters that the festival takes place from June 29 to July 27. What's more, the period mentioned by Search GPT explicitly states that the ticket office is closed.Google, on the other hand, responded to the somewhat special request with a classic series of links—with the Appalachian Summer Festival website at the top.

AI hallucinations are a known problem

The Search GPT glitch is not entirely surprising. Today's AI chatbots are known for hallucinations: Moments in which the software makes false claims with complete conviction.

The problem has something to do with the way chatbots like Chat GPT work: The software uses the masses of data with which it has been trained to estimate word by word how a sentence could continue.The result can be completely incorrect information, even if only correct information was fed into the program. The industry is working on preventing such fantasies with additional checks.

Google has had little to fear so far

There has been speculation for months as to whether AI search engines could pose a threat to the dominant industry leader Google. Attempts by smaller rivals of Open AI have so far left no trace in Google's business.

Instead, the AI search engine Neeva gave up last year. And the Google challenger Perplexity was caught capturing website content even against the express wishes of the operators.

Can Open AI be more successful? After all, Chat GPT is by far the best-known chatbot that kick-started the euphoria surrounding artificial intelligence. Open AI also wants to rely on information from media companies that grant the AI company access to their archives for current answers. Shares in Google's parent company Alphabet fell by three percent after the OpenAI announcement.

Better than "old school search"?

Open AI is convinced that search can be much better than it is today, emphasized company boss Sam Altman at the announcement of Search GPT on Thursday. The company wants to learn from the prototype and then integrate the technology into Chat GPT. He himself was surprised by how much he prefers Search GPT to "old-school search".

The media companies cooperating with Open AI include the German media group Axel Springer, Rupert Murdoch's newspaper empire News Corp and the Financial Times. It was initially unclear whether all the media partners announced so far would also be involved in Search GPT.

News Corp boss Robert Thompson emphasized in the press release that Open AI understands that AI searches must be based on reliable information from sources that are trusted. In view of this claim, the slip-up with the wrong festival date seems even more embarrassing.

Google's AI function recommended glue on pizza

However, even Google's decades of experience with trustworthy answers didn't help much when the company recently wanted to spice up its search engine with AI functions as a precautionary measure.

Among other things, the software found it difficult to distinguish serious information from jokes and satire.As a result, Google's AI summaries of search results sometimes recommended eating a small stone a day and attaching cheese to pizza with non-toxic glue. After the absurd answers caused much amusement online, Google adjusted the software algorithm.

What will become of the search engine as a springboard?

At the same time, however, both Google and its competitors continue to emphasize that the future of search engines is to answer more user questions directly with fully formulated sentences or images and videos.

Many website operators and media outlets are worried that this will lead fewer people to them than before and that their business will suffer as a result. Google countered that there is even more traffic to the sources of information that end up in the AI overviews. However, it remains unclear how the rest will fare.