This is a highly editorialised title. The title chosen by the authors is "All-Knowing Machines Are A Fantasy". There is nothing in the blog post about "AI chatbots" versus search egnines.
Due the editorialised HN title the top comment takes the thread on a tangent about ChatGPT versus Google web search.1 There is nothing in the article about Google specifically, other than to mention Google has their own language model for dialogue ("AI chatbot") along with OpenAI and Facebook. Nor is there any discussion of search engines, e.g., Google's, except to point out at the end that "AI" and search engines are similar because neither is under the control of the user. They are each offered by corporations that, regardless of the input, shape the output to benefit the corporation's own commercial interests. Neither offers "neutral" results.
A true improvement in search technology would be one that provides neutral results. Providing that improvement means the "tech" company cannot survive. It has no viable business model except operating as an intermediary (middleman), selling ad services.
1. Incidentally no user ever verifies that either Google or ChatGPT searches through millions of anything. The corporation will tweak the results to make sure it stays in business and maximises profit. The user is never allowed to see the tweaks.
Due the editorialised HN title the top comment takes the thread on a tangent about ChatGPT versus Google web search.1 There is nothing in the article about Google specifically, other than to mention Google has their own language model for dialogue ("AI chatbot") along with OpenAI and Facebook. Nor is there any discussion of search engines, e.g., Google's, except to point out at the end that "AI" and search engines are similar because neither is under the control of the user. They are each offered by corporations that, regardless of the input, shape the output to benefit the corporation's own commercial interests. Neither offers "neutral" results.
A true improvement in search technology would be one that provides neutral results. Providing that improvement means the "tech" company cannot survive. It has no viable business model except operating as an intermediary (middleman), selling ad services.
1. Incidentally no user ever verifies that either Google or ChatGPT searches through millions of anything. The corporation will tweak the results to make sure it stays in business and maximises profit. The user is never allowed to see the tweaks.