In recent decades, nothing has changed our lives like the internet, and with all due respect to the original internet directories from DMOZ to Yahoo, nothing changed the internet like search. So the fact that search is about to be dramatically changed by a technology that is invading our lives at a much faster pace than the internet is a pretty big deal. And we may not be ready. AI is better and faster at doing a lot of things. And that includes lying. “The way the technology works is in some ways fundamentally at odds with the idea of a search engine that reliably retrieves information found online. There’s plenty of inaccurate information on the web already, but ChatGPT readily generates fresh falsehoods. Its underlying algorithms don’t draw directly from a database of facts or links but instead generate strings of words aimed to statistically resemble those seen in its training data, without regard for the truth.” Will Knight in Wired: The Race to Build a ChatGPT-Powered Search Engine.

+ Incogneato: Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing briefly, and apparently accidentally, appeared online the other day. Silly humans.

+ “We’re a small group of people and we need a ton more input in this system and a lot more input that goes beyond the technologies-—definitely regulators and governments and everyone else.” One person who thinks ChatGPT needs to be regulated is OpenAI CTO Mira Murati. As evidenced by the articles above, the much anticipated AI arms race has begun. Don’t expect regulations to keep up.