Search is dead - now it's all about answers

It has been predicted for years and talked about what feels like a lifetime, the death of the search engine. At least the death of the classical search engine, you know the kind you use everyday and have used for the last two decades, the one that starts more or less all you deep dives on the net and guides you to your destination.

The search engines of today are behemoths of the past. Large datasets that you can query and that give you an endless supply of ‘answers’ that hopefully are the ones you are looking for. They only perform as well as you, the searcher, and the information holder, the website, allows it to. You might have to tweak your question to get the answer you need and the website owner needs to adapt to the search engines way of operating to fool it to hold your content in favor. Or, you have to pay for special treatment.

But all that is out the door now that ChatGPT joined the party. Now it’s all about answers, real answers, something that has been talked about by smaller firms and innovators but never been on the radar for the big guys. Now one of the bigger of the smaller guys, Microsoft Bing, is preparing to revolutionize the world of search and have the monopoly, Google, running scared.

So scared in fact that they called their founders back from the greener pastures where they have been gracing for the last couple of years. Now they are called in and heading up the effort to start revitalizing the company again.

Google has been resting too much on its laurels and fell asleep at the wheel. Their AI endeavors are impressive but as with many of Google experiments mainly just experimental. The driving force to innovate is there but they lack the energy and commitment to follow through. Just as with Google Glass, Stadia or Google+.

Microsoft on the other hand have been the underdog for so many years after the buzz about Bing died out just as quick as they launched. Bing is and was nothing new, it’s a Google clone with some new features, and pound for pound a lackluster clone at that. I tried to love it back when it first launched but after a year or so I simply gave up. The results were subpar and my interactions with the web as a whole became stunted. The same thing happened ten years or so later when I switched to DuckDuckGo and then quickly switched back.

But now, with the further investment into OpenAI, Microsoft is once again flexing their muscles and preparing not only to reinvent Bing but to reinvent the whole search business,

There will be exciting times ahead as the raise to get there first will be the raise of the ages. Microsoft has nothing to lose, their presence in the search business is just a footnote but they have everything to earn. Google on the other hand stands to lose their place as the be-all and end-all solutions for navigating the web and their efforts to improve and modernize might even harm their main product. The search engine that is the crown of their empire.

So before we end, what is this stuff they all have gone so crazy about? Well in its shortest form it is the beginning of a new era. An era where you are given actual answers instead of being forced to search for them yourself in the top ten links presented to you. No longer will a question be written as a simple query.

Restaurants Rome kid friendly

Only to be bombarded by advertisements (and then followed by said advertisements on the rest of the web for days) as you sort through clickbait headlines and links to articles that hopefully will help you in your quest to grab a plate to eat with your kids.

An AI driven engine will present you with a concise and clear answer to an actual question.

What are the top five kid friendly restaurants in Rome?

A direct question will be served by a direct answer. These are the best restaurants from what the AI knows. You can then further narrow it down by asking for restaurants close to your location, Rome is a big place, and even ask for certain dishes and menu items. Just as you would as a tour guide, a local or a friend to the family.

Simple as that. I feel this topic will be revisited again as it is super interesting and the raise has just begun. There will be so much to talk about in the months to come.